Ophelia
by JubbaWubba
Summary: Being in high school is hard. Especially when you're bound to get mugged round every corner, you're struggling with puberty, and you may or may not have two very complicated relationships with two very complicated boys. LevixMikasaxEren, High School AU
1. Chapter 1- Hypocrite

**T mainly for language and very mild sexual themes. Genre will differ from General/Romance/Angst/Humour/Crime **

**A/N: I'm starting up the writing business again, even after the self-proclaimed failure of my previous story (But if you don't know about that you don't need to, in which case: hi!) This is a delicious little love-triangle fic, will Eren or Levi win out in the end? That is the question. Being the first chapter, it is short, and the ball won't get rolling for quite sometime. What I ****_can _****say is that I have planned this story a lot more after my shameful failure, I grow from my mistakes and learn thank god. Which means, chapter 2 already exists, but won't be posted until chapter 3 is written.**

**Some foul-mouthed language, naughty Eren. (Not really)**

**Feedback and constructive criticism appreciated, feel free to point out errors (but play nice.)**

**Note 1: Please keep in mind that there are many different spellings of character names and I have chosen the ones that are either more official or I just prefer.**

**Note 2: Obviously your history effects your personality, keep in mind that as it is AU each character has a different past, effecting their personality, although it will be as close to canon as****_ I_**** can get without them declaring their murdering intent on Titans.**

**Note 3: The school system is obviously going to be using terms that I am familiar with. If you are unfamiliar with them I recommend google. **

**Disclaimer: I, ****_surprisingly_****, do not own Shingeki no Kyojin. **

**After that long note, Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Hypocrite

* * *

Mikasa and Eren walked in comfortable silence along the canal. Mikasa was not one for idle chitchat and Eren was on his usual lookout. Mikasa yawned slightly; the first day of a new semester was always exhausting for her.

Shiganshina was not the sort of place where you could rest easy. Underneath it's classic rural town look was the underlying shadow of crime. Northwards you could find Stohess, the city of dreams, everybody in Shiganshina dreamt of a high-class life in Stohess. Every second person in Shiganshina had something to do with crime, ranging from pick pocketing to mass murder. There were the rich, those who thrived off the life of the illegal, and the poor, the few good people left who didn't have the money to leave the dodgy town.

Eren and Mikasa fell under the latter, just two teens that were disgusted by the animals in the crime career that dared to call themselves human.

You were poor or you were rich, there was no in between.

Of course being surrounded by the constant fear of being robbed or murdered could put someone on edge, which was why Eren's eyes darted back and forth searching for any suspicious figures. Mikasa sighed in to her scarf, she had grown use to the fear, if she could call it that anymore, to her it was just a fact that there was a large chance someone could jump out with a knife, but she knew she would be able to take them down.

"Mikasa," Eren nudged her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts, "look." He whispered angrily.

Mikasa followed his gaze to where a girl stood, she was leaning against the wall of the tunnel under the bridge, but that wasn't what Eren was pointing out.

What he was pointing out was the group of men that surrounded her, clearly up to no good.

Mikasa inwardly sighed, knowing exactly what followed; Eren boldly ran down the side of the hill and along the canal until he reached the pack of thugs. She deftly followed after him, knowing he had no way of beating them on his own.

"Oi! Fuckers! Leave her alone."

"Oh?" The largest of the group, who had been too close to the girl for comfort, turned to face him. "What are you gonna do about it runt?" He cracked his knuckles slowly, his posse snickering in the back, daring Eren to try something.

"This." Eren swung his fist directly in to the brute's face, although he had managed to dodge in time, he certainly hadn't seen that coming.

"You shit!" He went to strike Eren, Mikasa moving inhumanly fast to block the blow, but was met with nothing as the attacker was now lying on the ground.

"I had it under control." The so-called 'victim' leaned forward off the wall, revealing her face from the shadows. A petite girl with blonde hair in a ponytail and icy-blue eyes, she was wearing the all-too familiar school uniform, a short white sleeved shirt with a short dark grey skirt, knee high socks rolled down to her ankles and instead of the school blazer she had on a grey hoodie.

"Annie!?" Eren was clearly shocked, although Mikasa could not recall her face, her eyes narrowed in suspicion at the so-called 'Annie'.

"Oi, Bitch!" One of the other thugs launched himself at Annie, she moved quickly, stepping around him and hitting him in the back of his knees, felling him too.

"Crazy slut!" The fallen picked themselves up and backed away, along with their cowardly comrades.

"An…nie?" Mikasa said slowly, cautiously.

"Don't you remember, she recently transferred into our class?"

Mikasa recalled something of the sort, but she had probably been deep in thought at the time, she had more things to stress over than Eren did, that was for sure. A brief flash of the girls face came in to Mikasa's mind.

"Hmph." Mikasa buried her face in to her scarf, stubbornly, still glaring at Annie.

"I'll take that as a yes." Eren sighed, "More importantly, where the hell did you learn those moves Annie, they were awesome!"

"Somewhere." She turned and began to walk away, hands in pockets, "Bye then."

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" Mikasa stated.

Eren groaned.

_Hypocrite._

* * *

As they reached their apartment block Mikasa added an extra burst of speed to her steps so she could get inside first. Her hand slipped in to the letterbox, pulling out the envelope she had been praying for. She held it close to her chest, relieved.

"What is it?" Eren asked, Mikasa slipped the letter in to her blazer's inner pocket.

"Junk." Was her short reply, a lie, but a necessary one. Eren gave a short grunt before beginning the walk up the long staircase.

Mikasa followed closely behind, trudging up the staircase. She had to open the door, since Eren had forgotten his keys (surprise, surprise.) Slipping inside, both teen's went into their respective rooms.

Mikasa ripped the envelope open in desperation, revealing a cheque from their guardian.

After the passing of their parents, some far-off distant family member had been assigned as their legal guardian, of course, having no motive to move to shoddy Shiganshina, they arranged to send some basic funds every so often.

Unbeknownst to Eren, Mikasa had been struggling with the finances; the little money they received was barely getting the growing teens by. Just managing to get food, let alone school supplies for the New Year, had been taxing. Mikasa had been forced to ask for an extra cheque, their guardian had begrudgingly accepted for just this once. Truth was that if she hadn't gotten that cheque for a few more days, they'd have no food.

"Mikasa…" Eren entered her room after a short knock; she slipped the cheque in to her inner pocket, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "I don't mean to rush you but…" His sentence was cut off by the loud growling of his tummy, "and I can't cook." He finished, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'll start soon."

"Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you."

_You have no idea. _She thought, feeling the cheque in her pocket. Though, it was the moments when Eren displayed his gratitude and gave her that small sheepish grin, that she would allow herself a small smile.

Into her scarf, of course.

* * *

Eren slipped on the short white sleeved shirt over his turquoise undershirt, pulling on the dark grey pants one leg at a time. Nothing annoyed him more than the tedious task of putting on a uniform.

After the usual pre-school routine, Mikasa and Eren began the usual walk to school.

"Hey! You two!" The familiar voice of Eren's best friend, Armin, called from behind.

"Yo, Armin." Eren greeted.

While Mikasa and Armin were certainly close, it was nothing like the relationship he had with Eren. They had been best friends long before Mikasa came in to the picture, yet he was a person she respected, just as Mikasa had physical strength, Armin held a different kind.

"Hey Mikasa." Armin acknowledged, smiling. Mikasa gave a curt nod in reply.

"So you know that new girl Annie?" Eren began, telling Armin the whole story of the previous night. Mikasa wasn't listening though, she didn't like that girl, there was definitely something off about her.

"That sounds pretty awesome, wish I'd seen it."

"She was an amazing fighter, better then Mikasa, that's for sure."

Armin flinched at Eren's blunt insult, knowing that it would not sit well with her. While Eren was blind to all matter of things, Armin was far more attentive; especially towards almost unreadable people like Mikasa.

"Oh? Is that so?" Mikasa spoke with a hint of anger in her monotone voice.

"Well yeah, she has technique, you just… hit."

"I see…" Mikasa paused for a bit, before muttering indecent things under her breath.

They arrived at their homeroom with Mikasa still fuming and Armin watching her closely, Eren as oblivious as always.

"Hey, you guys." Jean greeted from inside the classroom.

"Long time no see." Marco smiled.

"Marco!" Eren and Armin called excitedly.

"Feeling better?" Armin asked. Marco had been sick the previous semester, they hadn't seen him in a long time, and their only source of update had been Jean's somewhat uninformative replies.

"150 percent better!" Marco grinned. They began chatting about the holiday's and what Marco had been doing, when Eren spotted Annie.

"Annie!" He called; she had been sitting in the corner desk reading a book.

"Oh, it's you." She replied, her eyes leaving the pages for a brief moment before returning to the printed letters.

"I was wondering if I could ask you for a favour…"

Mikasa moved to hear the rest of their conversation but was blocked by Jean.

"Hey Mikasa, I didn't really see you much yesterday…"

Mikasa gave a quick glance back to Eren, seeing a look of utter satisfaction on his face.

Mikasa turned around, leaving Jean stupefied as she walked briskly out of the classroom and down the corridor.

She felt her stomach twist, that grin on Eren's face was one she rarely saw, and seeing it aimed at Annie made her want to throw up, that girl was dangerous, and Mikasa knew it. She needed Jean out of her face for some quick thinking time. Not watching where she was going she bumped in to something, or someone. Looking for the culprit she saw the top of someone's head.

"Watch where you're going brat." Glancing down she saw an infamous face, Levi. Two years her senior, everyone feared the short man; he was notorious for his involvement in crime and 'I'm better than everyone' attitude. Although, Mikasa had never actually been _this _close to him before, only having seen him briefly from afar and hearing the murmurs and whispered gossip, like the one's she could hear right now.

"Oh my god, he's not going to beat her up is he?"

"As if, this is Mikasa we're talking about, I bet she could whoop his butt."

Heaps of students had poked their heads out the classroom doors to peer down the hallway and watch the scene unravel before them.

Levi's eyes briefly glanced at the appearing crowd, before walking past Mikasa without saying another word.

"Mikasa why the hell did you leave? Class is starting soon!" Jean grabbed Mikasa, dragging her back in to the classroom. Seeing Annie again made Mikasa remember why she left, but she had already sat next to Eren. That girl was trouble, and Mikasa had to make sure Eren didn't get caught up in it.

* * *

School was a waste of time for Mikasa, she aced nearly every test without a minute of study, and the countless days spent at the prison-like building could be used more wisely, like working at a job.

"Alright class, listen up." Their teacher, Mr. Irvin Smith, began. "You're well aware that every year around this time the whole 10th grade has to have their formal."

A group groan erupted from the class, the feared and hated formal; a stupid dance they held, with stupid music and stupid rules, every year 10 had to participate, and every year 10 fretted the big event.

"Settle down." Smith ordered, "you've all known this was coming so you'll also know that I need a handful of you to work in the committee."

No one raised his or her hand, no one moved an inch.

"No volunteers, guess I'll be picking them then." Irvin let his eyes scan down the roll. People nervously shifted in their seats, having to attend the tacky dance was one thing but planning it was twice as bad.

"Arlert, Yeagar, Leonhart and Kirchstein. Congratulations." Irvin was as cold and blunt as always.

"No…" Jean whined.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Eren cursed.

"What a nuisance." Annie added, continuing to read.

"Can't say I'm surprised to be honest…" Armin sighed.

Mikasa certainly didn't like the situation unfolding, her hand shooting straight in to the air.

"Sir, I volunteer to take one of their places."

"_Eren's _place." Jean corrected under his breath.

Either she took Eren or Annie's place, preventing them from spending time together or she took Jean or Armin's, allowing her to be there and prevent them spending time together. A foolproof plan to say the least.

"Ackerman you had your chance."

Except for that.

"Sir I really think I could help out!" Mikasa stood up abruptly.

"Ackerman if you really thought that you would've volunteered before I picked your brother now sit down."

Dumbfounded and humiliated, Mikasa slowly lowered herself in to her seat, burying her face in to her scarf to hide herself. "But if you're all that desperate you can help set up when the time comes."

Feeling a little relieved, and a small amount of her pride restored, she glanced quickly at Eren, who had a look of disappointment on his face, mixed with anger.

Mikasa reburied her face.

* * *

_"__Annie!" Eren called, making his way towards the blonde, reading in the corner._

_"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor…" Eren glanced over his shoulder, seeing Mikasa conversing with Jean, still, he lowered his voice. "Reckon you could teach me?"_

_"What, how to read?" She replied sarcastically._

_"How to fight." _

_Annie gave a look of disbelief, if you could analyze her stoic face, apart from that it was just her usual bored look. _

_"Not the time for jokes, Yeagar." _

_"I'm being serious!"_

_"What would you do with them?" _

_"… What's right." He muttered. Whether it was beating up thugs or trying to defeat Mikasa, Annie didn't really care; she just wanted him out of her face, and he didn't seem to have any plans of giving up._

_"Whatever." _

_"Thanks!" Eren's sea green eyes sparkled brightly, a hopeful smile forming on his face. _

_"Alright class, listen up." Mr. Smith began._

* * *

"I don't wanna…" Eren moaned into the desk.

"Cheer up, Eren, it's not that bad."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Armin?" Jean butted in, "I'd rather be sliced in half…" his head falling in to the desk, mimicking Eren.

"Stop whining, you're killing the mood." Ymir leant an arm against Jeans moping head, "think of it as an opportunity." She explained.

"How?" Eren looked up.

"For a kickass after party." She winked before slinking away, back to Christa no doubt.

A three-part harmonic groan sounded from the boys.

"I'm sorry Eren, I tried." Mikasa blurted out.

"Ugh, stop apologizing, you're making it worse, that was embarrassing for both of us you know."

"Sorry."

Eren groaned for the billionth time.

_Hypocrite_

* * *

**_A_****/N: Action packed, as you can see. I promise it gets better (jokes, with me writing I doubt it.) Stupid character and plot development really is a lot of work, and I'm not good at it either.**

**[Edit]: If you are going to send me hate, for the love of what is right at least tell me why you hated it. This story is an experiment, it's _fanfiction_. I am using it to help improve my writing as well as do something I love. So with criticism, I really don't care, just tell me whhhyyyyy. **

**Next Chapter: Two Birds with One Stone**


	2. Chapter 2- Two Birds with One Stone

**A/N: These next two chapters sort of suck in my opinion, except for a few funny moments that I enjoyed writing. I apologise in advance for the bad quality, they are sort of bridge chapters to the main plot and I didn't do a very good job at executing them. With my limited abilities I think it's the best I can do.**

**Enjoy! **

*****Warning! If maths is a trigger for you, be careful!*****

* * *

Chapter 2: Two Birds with One Stone

* * *

"Petra? What are you doing here?" Eren asked, the ginger sat in the committee's meeting room, an old clubroom, it was covered in thick dust with papers and old books scattered everywhere.

"10's aren't the only ones who get involved." She sighed, "Mr. Smith forces seniors who have participated in it before to help out. Something to do with experience." Petra was a petite girl, in the year above Eren, he knew her from some of the other activities he had been forced to do, although Petra actually volunteered herself, for reasons no one could grasp.

They suddenly became aware of another person, due to a loud snort. A short looking man entered the room, wrinkling his nose at the sight, according to his uniform, the pocket being a different color, he was Eren's senior, Eren recognized his face from around, but he wasn't that good with name's.

"Levi?!" Petra gasped.

_That_ was a name he was familiar with. It was impossible to go to Shiganshina high without knowing that name. The infamous criminal mastermind, the strongest of the strong.

"Smith thinks he has me wrapped around his pinky." He huffed.

"But if you obeyed him, then he does, doesn't he?" Eren's thoughts made their way to his lips, filling him with a sense of regret and fear as soon as they left.

"Hmph." Levi left the room as quickly as he entered, leaving Petra and a dumbstruck Eren alone.

"Not what you'd expect huh?"

"Huh?"

"Compared to the rumors built up about him, Levi is actually short, both in height and temper." She chuckled, "as well as being an obsessive clean-freak, but you'll meet that side later. But even if he's not what you expect, be more cautious about what you say. He can be… inhuman."

Before Eren could ask Petra what she meant, Armin and Jean entered.

"Petra?" Armin asked, as he lowered himself in to the seat next to Eren.

"Senior's 'valuable experience and knowledge'." She needn't bother with any more details.

"Sounds like something Mr. Smith would say."

Annie entered the room not long after, quietly, finding the nearest seat and settling in to it.

"You're late." Eren stated.

The blonde ignored him.

"Can we get this thing started already, I have better things to do." Levi reentered the room, with another senior behind him.

"Cleaning can wait, Levi." Zöe Hanji patted the short man on the head, For some unknown reason, the name Zöe never particularly stuck with the brunette's eccentric personality, Hanji was simply better suited. "Thanks for reminding me about the meeting though." His glare could kill but Hanji didn't seem to notice. "I'm the last person right? Okey-dokey let's get this party started!" Hanji completed the committee, another third year, making a total of seven.

"Four 10's this year huh? Usually there are more…" Petra frowned. Four year 10's, two year 12's and an 11, it certainly was an interesting combination.

"Whatever, we should get started."

"There's not much we have to do, it really just comes down to the decorations and setting them up, as well as music." Hanji added.

Levi, glanced at the door, then abruptly stood up, back turned, and began to leave, _again. _

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here."

"Aww, but I thought we could get your help with the music."

"No." His short, monotone answers reminded Eren of Mikasa.

"Promise to at least set up, when the time comes."

Levi spun around to face Hanji, their noses nearly touching.

"No."

He turned back around and walked away. Hanji huffed.

"Hmph, no fun."

"Aren't you gonna go after him?" Armin asked.

"There's a limited amount to how much you can annoy him before he punishes you." Hanji sighed.

Quizzical looks were passed between the three boys, Hanji hadn't elaborated as to what 'punishment' was.

* * *

"Shoot me."

"Only if you shoot me back."

"Idiot that doesn't even work 'coz I'd be dead!"

"Shut up Jean!"

Eren and Jean bickered, _again_.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Petra attempted to break the tension. Jean and Eren exchanged looks.

"Terrible." They said in unison.  
"Sorry Petra," Armin began, "but next time, even I might join in on the shooting."

They had spent the past hour doing absolutely nothing as Petra pitched in endlessly with Hanji nodding along, adding a quick detail or opinion. Annie only read and the three remaining had been reduced to staring at knots of wood in the table.

"If you look on the bright side though, Eren and Jean are agreeing on something." Armin whispered to the girl, a light giggle escaping her lips.

"As far as I can tell, this dance is going to suck." Eren added bluntly.

Slightly offended, Petra gave a short huff before stomping away.

"Petra did just plan everything." Armin explained, Eren confused as to why she was mad.

"Huh?"

"Thicker than a brick wall, Yeager." Jean patted him on the back sympathetically, before leaving. Eren glared at him, the temptation to stick his tongue out was strong.

"Come on, Eren." Armin ushered the boy along.

Eren was frozen; something else had caught his attention, or someone. He found himself staring at Levi, standing on the opposite side of the field to Eren. They stared at each other for quite some time, neither one pulling away, like some sort of competition.

"Eren?" Armin tried to drag Eren back to earth, but the boy was lost in his mind. Eren kept his eyes locked on Levi from across the grassy plain.

"…Y-Yeah." He finally pulled his eyes away to answer Armin. Levi continued walking to who knows where.

The walk back was filled with silence, it seemed to be somewhat nostalgic. Armin and Eren parted ways eventually, with Eren trudging up the apartment steps.

"I'm home." He called in to the small apartment.

"Welcome back." Mikasa replied from the kitchen. Eren's stomach growled, as he smelt the sweet aroma of dinner.

* * *

"Was the committee fun?" Connie teased as Eren slumped into his desk.

"Take that as a no?" Ymir joked, joining in on the fun.

"Shut up, you still have to go to the dance anyway." Eren defended.

"Boys never listen do they?" Ymir sighed dramatically. "Read my lips Yeager, AF-TER-PAR-TAY."

Eren continued to stare angrily from the face of his desk.

"Now that I think about it; you guys aren't the party type, are you? Kind of boring right? I mean, we're most likely all going to end up criminals yet everyone's to chicken to try a drink?"

"Ymir." Christa frowned disappointedly, trailing behind the tall girl, no surprise.

"Shouldn't be pressuring these virgins in to drinking I guess."

Eren's eyes widened in embarrassment while Christa and Connie blushed.

"I meant alcohol virgins." Ymir rolled her eyes, loving their reactions. "Though we can always hit two birds with one stone…" She added, their faces priceless, Ymir couldn't help but laugh.

"Too easy…" She cackled, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Sh-shut up!" Connie stammered, leaving in a hurry to calm his blush.

"Where are you going, class will start soon?" Sasha had grabbed Connie's arm, stopping him from running away.

"Wow, Connie, don't think such indecent thoughts, look at you you're bright red just thinking about it!" Ymir took the opportunity to embarrass him further, her relentless teasing never seemed to dry out, losing her breath from her never-ending laughter.

"Just sit down you guys, or one of you is going to burst," Reiner intervened," either from laughter or embarrassment.", he pulled Connie away and forced him to sit down, next to Sasha unfortunately.

* * *

Eren's face had barely moved from staring at the desk, Ymir's implications still had him uncomfortable while the whole 'dance' thing had him feeling down.

Mikasa had been prevented from sitting in to her seat, no thanks to Jean, but finally settled as the clock hands ticked closer to 8:30.

"Ere-" She wanted to say it, to talk about their situation, about the money, but as she watched his stressed face glare angrily at the clock, she couldn't do it, she couldn't have him bare another burden. She bit her tongue back, nearly hard enough to draw blood.

She'd just have to find a solution herself.

* * *

Eren had been surprisingly unenergetic all day. He barely spoke or moved, even provoking from Jean failed to interest him, and Mikasa was getting more and more worried by the minute. It was last period, and the thought that he had to go to that stupid committee was dragging him down, not to mention that he was stuck in his favorite subject, maths.

"Are you really that down about the meeting?" Armin asked, reading Eren's face like a book.

"It's not just that…" He grumbled, his mind wandering to the events that had happened that lunch.

* * *

_Eren was pretty annoyed about the meeting after-school, sure, it was a burden, but he could cope._

_But at least there was something he knew that could cheer him up._

_"Annie!" Eren found the blonde with her obscure nose stuck in a book, leaning against the wall behind the old school building. _

_"What?"_

_"You said you'd teach me?"_

_"Now?"_

_"Yes!"_

_"Why don't you just ask your sister?"_

_"Please!" Eren was begging by this point, he had been overly eager to finally learn to fight properly, and he was much too sick of the small girl avoiding their agreement._

_"Whatever." Placing the book gently by her feet, she stood facing Eren, taking a stance with her fists raised, "Come at me."_

_"What?"_

_"I said come at me."_

_Eren hesitated, not sure what to do. Suddenly Annie, seeing her opportunity, struck him behind the knees with inhuman speed._

_"What the hell?" Spitting out dirt from his mouth, Eren rubbed the back of his head sorely._

_"Snooze you lose, Yeager." _

_Gritting his teeth he charged at her again, blinded by anger. She dodged his blow swiftly, placing one arm around his neck with magically gained height and one on his backside, applying heavy pressure, she forced him to the ground with sheer strength. _

_"Never make the first move." _

_"But you said-"_

_"I know what I said, how about you revise over what I just taught you," With her unreadable face never faltering, Annie walked away without another word. "And don't come back until you understand."_

_Dumbfounded and hurt, both in pride and physically, Eren walked away with a scowl etched in to his face._

_"Eren!" Mikasa's face, which was usually as unreadable as Annie's, showed her worry for once. Unlike Annie, Mikasa had a known weakness: Eren. Her eyes would always betray her when it came to Eren. "Are you OK? You're filthy." Eren felt guilt jab his stomach, he had pulled the bathroom excuse on her and then snuck away to find Annie._

_"Yeah… I just fell over that's all." Why couldn't he tell her? Eren wasn't one for keeping secrets, especially from Mikasa. But seeing the worrying look in her obsidian eyes, Eren avoided her gaze._

_"You're not hurt are you?"_

_ Eren scoffed, "stop worrying or we'll be late to class."_

_Mikasa obeyed with a slight nod, her head retracting in to her scarf._

_Relieved to have avoided the subject, Eren let out a quiet sigh._

* * *

_"Snooze you lose."_

_"Never make the first move."_

These were the words that were troubling Eren the most.

They contradicted themselves, how the hell was he supposed to learn from them?

Gripping his temple in frustration, Eren let out an angry groan.

"Is the maths that hard?" Mikasa cocked her head, her dark silky hair falling softly at the movement. Eren blinked in confusion, before remembering.

"Y-Yeah… just this one question."

"The quadratic equation isn't that hard, idiot, you just have to put in the values." Jean butted in, turning around to face the brother and sister duo, undoubtedly trying to show off.

"Shut the fuck up." Eren snapped back, less passionate than usual.

"Here, it's just the null factor law, so if you do this-" Mikasa scribbled some quick steps down "- then it's solved."

"Right, thanks."

Sending an angry look at Jean, he returned to looking down at his exercise book.

_Plot the equation y=x^2+5x+6x clearly showing the y-intercept, making sure to never make the first move._

No matter how hard Eren tried to focus, his mind kept wondering off to her words.

"It doesn't make any sense." He muttered.

"Still don't get it?"

"They say even death can't cure an idiot." Jean spun around again.

"I get it," Eren gritted his teeth, needing to ignore Jean, "don't worry, just talking to myself."

Mentally urging himself on, he tried the next question.

_Factorize x^2+8x+2, just remember that snooze you lose, Yeager._

"Can I please go to the bathroom, sir?"

"Go for it."

* * *

"You seem pretty out of it." Armin had been worrying about his friend all day, unlike Annie or Mikasa; Eren's face was pretty much a showcase of emotion.

"Yeah… just thinking, I guess."

"You better be careful or you might hurt yourself thinking to hard." Jean seemed to be on a roll today, feeding off of Eren's distress.

"Let's just get this meeting over with." Eren murmured through gritted teeth. He hadn't the time nor the energy for fighting with Jean, considering Annie's kicks had practically knocked him out.

Entering the old clubroom, there was the distinct smell of Windex in the air, the floor was unreasonably clean, and all the old books and files had been organized perfectly, and alphabetically, in the shelves.

"My, my, the cleaning fairy came early this year." Hanji appeared behind the boys, grinning a devilish smile; one that sent uncomfortable shivers down Eren's spine.

"Where are Petra and short-" Eren asked. Almost immediately several pair of hands were over Eren's mouth, one pair belonging to Hanji, and the other to Petra, who had arrived just in time. Standing in the doorframe was the shorty himself, eyebrows creased together, a death glare hanging on his eyes. He walked threateningly towards Eren, although the green-eyed boy held his ground stubbornly. Levi swung a fist; stopping dead in between Eren's eyes. With Eren distracted, he stomped a foot on to the boy's shoe.

"Ow! What the hell?" In his pain, Eren had hung his head, slumping his body forward and holding his sore foot, Levi proceeded to grab a fistful of hair, so that Eren's hanging head could face up to his own.

"Now look who's short."

He let go of Eren's hair with a rough push, the brunette continued to rub his temple, as Levi faced the door.

"Leaving so soon?" Irvin was at the door, preventing the curt man from leaving. "Hanji told me about your little getaway, we had an agreement…" He muttered the rest quietly, Eren struggled to hear the last few words.

Levi rolled his eyes, facing the group and sitting down, Irvin waited until it seemed that the smaller man wouldn't try for another escape.

"Back to work then." Smith closed the door behind him.

"I need a drink…"

Heavy silence filled the room, the inhabitants stunned at his request.

"Of coffee you imbeciles."

The tension seemed to leave a little

"Let's just get started, if we do enough we won't have to have another meeting." At this suggestion from Petra, everyone became miraculously eager to get going, except Levi, whom sat with his arms crossed, unmoving. Even Annie had closed her book and reverted to watching the others converse.

* * *

"So with the supplies provided, and of course the food and such is organized by teacher's, we can conclude-"

"-That this whole entire committee was a waste of time and the dance is going to suck." Petra shot Jean an angry glare

"-That we should start setting up the Thursday before. Considering the dance is next Friday, may as well get it ready ahead of time." Petra finished her interrupted sentence.

"So…?" Eren nagged.

"Just leave already." Almost immediately the three boys dashed out of the classroom, even Annie seemed in a hurry, leaving the three seniors.

"Why'd you clean the room?" Hanji queried.

"It was filthy." Levi replied.

"You should probably get your freaky little OCD habit fixed, you know?"

"The only freak around here is you."

"I know, I know."

Petra suppressed a smile at the two, their interactions were certainly amusing. She shuffled the different papers that had notes on them; perhaps she had been taking her job a little to seriously, after all it was just some 'stupid' dance.

_Boys are so oblivious_. She thought. Her own year 10 dance had been an important moment in her life, for more than one reason.

One of the papers slipped out of the pile, Levi bent over and passed it back to her.

"Thanks…" She stammered, snatching the paper and hurrying out.

"You scared the poor girl." Hanji frowned, "all those rumors of your little 'bad boy' phase are spreading."

"I know."

"You're not worried?"

"Why should I? They're neither false nor true."

Hanji only sighed, no point in fretting over Levi.

* * *

Mikasa stared at her ceiling. The only sound was the hum of the fridge; it was dead silent in the apartment.

"Mum… what do I do?" She thought aloud. Whether she was talking to her biological or her adoptive parent she wasn't sure, all she knew was she needed the warmth and reassurance of a mother's touch. What was she supposed to do about Eren? About the money? About her heart? The latter being a confusing one for her. Obviously being a teenager puberty had to come eventually, right? She just hadn't expected it so soon or to cause so much confusion. One side of her loved Eren as her brother, her last remaining family member, was she over-protective? For sure. But she couldn't help it, she couldn't lose more family then she already had. But there was the other side, where she felt _urges_, and although they weren't necessarily directed at Eren, they weren't really directed at anyone, they were just there, making her feel awkward, ashamed and incredibly uncomfortable, Eren just happened to usually be in the vicinity. But the fact that he did come to mind made her hate herself. She tried not to think about it, to desperately remove the image, but it kept coming back, she kept feeling blood rush to her face and all she wanted to do was scream it out of her system. But she couldn't because she was Mikasa.

_"We're just going out for the night, I promise we'll be home soon." Grisha Yeager grabbed his coat and flung it over his arm._

_"Mikasa-" Carla began, pulling the girl close, "Look after Eren, OK?" There was an almost somber smile on her face, as if she knew she wouldn't be returning ever again._

Mikasa snapped in to reality, her breaths short and fast. That memory haunted her constantly, the sad smile on her adoptive mother's face, those four words:

_Look after Eren, OK? _

But there was also a voice in the back of her mind that plagued her with the same thought.

Did Carla know she was going to die that night?

* * *

Eren walked in to the apartment; amazingly he had actually remembered his keys. Falling face first on to the couch he let out a long, much deserved, groan.

"Welcome home." Mikasa had a towel wrapped around her torso, unmistakably having just got out of the bath.

"Mikasa what the hell? We're not kids anymore." Eren covered his eyes. Just like Mikasa, a certain unfortunate force of nature had struck Eren, and he didn't really trust himself. Although he wasn't angry about it, he couldn't really view Mikasa like that, she did indeed need to learn about privacy, and it was a little embarrassing for the both of them.

"Right. Sorry." She retreated in to her room, Eren's hand over his eyes.

"What's for dinner?" He asked through the door.

Of course food was the only thing on a teenage boys mind.

_That and se- _Mikasa halted her thoughts to prevent her imagination from going too far.

"Curry." She replied, calming her thoughts in the process.

"How long?"

"Just need to cook the rice."

"Hey… Mikasa?"

"Yeah?"

"… Thanks."

* * *

"I never thought we'd make such business out of _this." _ A lackey exclaimed, enjoying the feel of the paper bills between his fingers.

"Get your filthy hands off of that."

"Sorry, Pastor."

Of course in the underground using your real name was dangerous; most people were referred to with an alias. Pastor Nick was one that had stuck with the old man, with his religious values and chaplain-like appearance.

The group called itself Churches, another gang to add to Shiganshina's collection, although they certainly were different to most. They posed as a religious organization, gaining them the name churches, which allowed them to easily gain funds and keep under the radar. Who would ever think that some harmless church would ever be one of the leaders in crime?

But the identity of the leader of Churches was a mystery, certainly there were smaller groups that served under as 'pastors', but the creator himself was unknown even to those that served directly under him.

"We're gon' need more participators." The fatter minion, whose name escaped Nick's mind, added.

"It can't be that hard, can it?"

* * *

"When is that stupid dance anyway? Maybe I can escape somehow."

The though of escaping was nice, but in Shiganshina there was no hope, no one had the money nor the place to run to.

Jean opened his mouth to answer Connie, before remembering he didn't actually know. The group of boys looked at each other in confusion, the past week's conversation topics had just been everyone complaining about the dance, yet no one actually new the date.

"It's next Friday." Christa answered, walking up to the group. "You guys always complain about the dance, and you don't even know when it is, and seriously; it's just one night."

"That's because they don't have dates." Ymir appeared once again, the boys mentally preparing themselves for the onslaught of teasing yet to come.

"We don't need dates!"

"Correction Jean: _You _don't need a date because you have your hand."

Jean blushed madly at Ymir's implication.

"Not to mention I bet Mikasa would reject you in a heartbeat." Connie added, causing Jean's eye to twitch.

"Not a bad comeback for someone as stupid as you." Ymir complimented yet insulted Connie at the same time, one of her many talents.

"Shut up ugly!"

Connie and Ymir began their verbal abuse, Christa merely sighed as Marco attempted to calm Jean down.

"What the hell is going on here?" Eren stood with a disapproving glare at the rowdy table, with Jean blushing, Ymir and Connie fighting, and the others merely sighing, it was quite a sight to walk in on.

"Where's your clique Yeager?" Jean regained his posture seeing his rival. For once the boy was unaccompanied, the infamous duo that usually trailed behind him was nowhere in sight.

"Don't you mean where's Mikasa?" Connie gave a sly grin to Jean, ignoring Ymir for the time being.

Eren looked away in guilt, he had been searching for Annie again, which had caused him to use the same tactic on Mikasa, the bathroom, while Armin had been much more understandable and had said he was doing work in the library anyway.

He didn't want Mikasa to know about Annie because for once, just once, he wanted her out of his hair.

And for once, he wanted to see the surprise on her face, the surprise from him winning a fight without her help, especially after seeing his new-found badass moves.

"No. Way. You ditched them?" Jean was shocked. The three were inseparable, Mikasa and Eren especially.

"Shut up Jean." Eren resumed his hunt for the hiding blonde, walking away from the rowdy table.

"Did… Eren… just walk away from a fight?"

"Someone put this in the history books."

Eren didn't manage to find Annie.

But Mikasa did.

"Annie."

"Oh," She glanced up from her book, "it's you. Did your brother send you to complain?"

"Complain about what?"

_So she doesn't know… _

"Nothing."

Heavy silence filled the air as Annie continued reading, Mikasa standing still; glaring at the girl.

"I don't trust you." Annie's eyes didn't even budge when Mikasa broke the silence.

"I don't care." Mikasa's fists tightened, knuckled turning white.

"Stay away from Eren." She warned through clenched teeth, her anger peaking.

Annie took a step closer to Mikasa, dropping her book in the process.

"Make Eren stay away from me, boy can't keep his hands off of me."

Mikasa swung her fist.

_She should take a lesson from her brother. _Annie smugly thought.

_Never make the first move. _

As Annie dodged the blow and went for the counterattack, she heard a voice call out.

"Oi." It was rough, ominous, and full of distaste, Annie recognized it straight away, halting her attack. "You better not be thinking about fighting here." Mikasa lowered her stance at the sound of that voice.

"Just think of the mess you'd make."

* * *

**A/N: **Gee, I wonder which character just appeared. Sorry it took me so long to post, chapter three was a pain to write. Hopefully chapter four is easier since it's less bridge-esque and more... cute? Lengths of my chapter's will differ with some being long and other's short. Take a guess at what homework I was meant to be doing instead of writing this. *coughitwassmathscough*

Thanks to everyone that followed and/or favorited.

Special thanks to: ami90, BurningMoons, SeraphineHeartfillia, Brkrth99, Jeaaaaaaan, and HungerGamesEnthusiast for taking time out of their day to review.

Next time: The Offer

*cue inconspicuous music*


	3. Chapter 3- The Offer

**A/N: Yooooo, the plot is taking forever to develop, sorry. Anyways excuse the activities that could be classified as OOC, I like to think that they are slightly more teenagery than a world where they watched their parents get eaten. Also I cannot write fight scenes, I guess this was practice, it's also probably physical impossible and makes no sense so just excuse that, I'm experimenting I guess.**

**Thanks.**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Offer

* * *

Mikasa sat uncomfortably in the chair. Her arm kept twitching to punch the blonde beside her.

_That stupid shorty dibbed on us_. Mikasa felt her blood boil; Levi had dragged her by the scruff of her scarf to the principal's office. Still, she kept her relatively calm composure.

"Why exactly were you two fighting?" Principal Zallis Dackley asked, a stern man with not a single humor bone in him, he kept his school in top shape and expected his students to do the same. Shiganshina High had the lowest population of teens in crime amongst any other school in the district.

"We didn't actually fight, sir." Mikasa defended, considering Levi had _interrupted _before she could finish_._

_That annoying little-_

"I suppose, I can't really suspend you for doing nothing. I will let you off with a warning, just this once." Mikasa visibly relaxed, Annie hadn't seemed stressed at all.

"Although I expect you two to stay after school and be on cleaning duty, If I catch you two in anymore trouble, expect greater consequences."

Sensing her leave, Mikasa stood up, giving her thanks, and left.

"Teenage girls," Dackley said with a huff, "probably fighting over some stupid boy."

* * *

"Where's Mikasa?"

The words rang in Eren's ears.

Part of him was thankful that for once it wasn't _snooze you lose_, or, _never make the first move _that clouded his thoughts_._

But they still didn't settle well with the boy. Mikasa was never late, not once could he ever recall the girl being late to class.

Except whenever they got in trouble.

The trio had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and such, ever since pre-school, they had been sent to the principal's office quite a number of times. It was the same pattern over and over: Armin was being bullied, Eren fought the bullies, Eren lost, Mikasa took over. It became an endless and all-too familiar pattern for the three, but as soon as Eren hit middle school, his view point changed. He stopped fighting just in school, and was fighting outside of school too. He found himself in unfamiliar, official-looking offices quite a lot, ranging from mall security to the police station (that had been an exceptionally violent case that pained Eren to think about.) Although Armin's abusers had stopped, just as he grew out of his old clothes, he grew out of bullies, but Mikasa was there. She was always there, looking after him. Over-protective at times, yet necessary to Eren's stay out of trouble.

Long story short, Mikasa was only late if she was in trouble, or if Eren was at least.

_Damn it Mikasa, making me worry._ Eren gritted his teeth so hard they were going to be ground to dust.

_So this is how she feels… _

Eren was usually on the receiving side of the 'protectiveness', finding it to be bothersome and embarrassing, but being on the giving side was certainly different. It's not like Eren didn't expect it from her, the only family the had left was each other, especially in a dodgy place like Shiganshina, it was natural for the weak to bond together to fight the strong.

But Mikasa was not weak, and maybe the fact that she wouldn't need him was scaring him.

_"You better be careful or you might hurt yourself thinking too hard"_

Jeans annoying face had a strange way of calming Eren down and slowing down his thoughts.

So Mikasa was in trouble.

And that trouble wasn't via Eren.

_Shit._

* * *

Levi was still standing outside the office once Mikasa left.

"Why are you here?" Mikasa barely knew the guy, but she already felt thick hatred towards him.

"Someone had to get the lucky job of accompanying you two back to class, to make sure you don't disrupt school life."

It must've been quite a sight to see, the three most feared people in the school walking side by side, it probably seemed like they'd started their own gang.

"I bet you just wanted to skip class." Annie murmured, but the halls were empty, allowing Levi to hear perfectly clear.

"Questioning your superiors, Leon?"

Annie avoided the question by entering the classroom, which they had just arrived at, sliding the door behind her.

"Oi… shorty…"

Levi turned to face the taller girl.

"If you ever Nark on me again I will destroy you."

Levi stared in to her obsidian eyes, although he was a good ten centremetres shorter, his stare made him seem the size of a sky scraper. He looked away quickly, in disbelief? It was hard to tell, she hadn't seen so much as a twitch in his mouth, though that made it seem like he was rolling his eyes.

Mikasa tried to burn holes in the back of his head as she entered the room, feeling holes being burnt in to her own skull by the entire class. There was a particular set of turquoise eyes that she could feel all too well, sending shivers down her spine.

"Mikasa…" He muttered, but her guilty look told him she'd tell him later.

* * *

Mikasa felt stares on her all lesson. Ackerman, late? It was unheard of. And now she had to spend the end of the day cleaning, with Annie. This day was getting worse and worse.

And she was pretty sure that Dackley had assigned Levi as her guardian or something, because she caught him staring at her a number of times from across the school at lunch and in-between classes. She could've even sworn that he was staring at her through walls too.

By the end of the day it was impossible to avoid Eren, and she was forced to tell him.

"Mikasa." He had a warning tone. Avoiding his gaze, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for an answer.

"I-"

"Ackerman."

Ironically, the voice that had got her in to this situation was about to be her savior.

"What?" She snapped. Eren was stunned by Mikasa's viciousness, she wasn't like that to many people, unless they posed some sort of threat

"Get cleaning."

Mikasa clenched her fists.

"Sorry Eren, but I'll have to tell you later."

"You better." He warned, walking out the gates.

Mikasa hadn't met a single person in her life that made her more angry than Levi. Her knuckles went white, her teeth were clenched and her blood pumped fast. He really got on her nerves, his patronizing, his sticking his nose in other people's business, his stupid smug little face.

As if hearing her thoughts, Levi looked at her, it seemed like disbelief but once again, Mikasa had no idea.

"Get going."

Or maybe his face was telling her to start cleaning since they had reached the classroom.

Annie was there, piling books in to the shelf. Mikasa had hit the jackpot with two people she hated most in the same room with her.

"Shouldn't we have a teacher supervising?"

"Questioning your superiors, Ackerman?"

"You've already said that today."

"And you've already breathed so why are you still doing it?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Talking back doesn't make the room any cleaner."

Irritating her further, Mikasa returned to wiping the desks, hoping it would take her mind off of things. People had defaced all over the desks, ranging from mere tagging, to doodle's of male genitalia, to beautiful pieces of art that made Mikasa hesitant to wipe away. Levi sat where the teacher normally would, reading a book.

"Is there a problem?"

Mikasa had been caught staring, something he noticed she did quite a lot.

"No." She swept the rag over the desk, removing the small scribbles.

Minutes passed, soon becoming hours, the classroom was sparkling pristine and the thick smell of cleaning product could be smelt from the other side of the school.

"Are we done here?" Annie glanced lazily at their 'supervisor'.

"You missed a spot."

"Where?" Mikasa was about to break, just him reading was annoying her. Without looking he rose a finger, pointing to a desk at the back corner. The picture was amazing, it was no simple graffiti. Amazing patterns that made the desk look like it was a jungle, with vines and leaves spread all around it. Reluctantly, Mikasa spread the rag over the desk, removing the picture altogether.

"Satisfied?"

"No."

Mikasa couldn't even think of a reason to why she fought Annie in the first place, when Levi had been at school the whole time.

"Just leave already, neither of you are any good."

Scowling, Mikasa stormed out of the room, scarf flailing out behind her, Annie followed out afterwards. Scoffing, Levi began to finish what they started, no one would ever truly match his standards.

* * *

Mikasa was hoping for a peaceful walk home, spending time with Levi had certainly pushed her temper to the limits, all she needed now was a nice relaxing bath.

"I've never seen a girl that looks like you before."

A filthy man appeared from behind Mikasa in the alleyway, apparently her wish was not going to be granted, he smelt heavily of alcohol and tobacco and his teeth were rotten yellow.

"Ooooh! That there's an Oriental, pretty little things, huh?" A shaggy looking guy chewing gum revealed himself, another following suit, Mikasa was surrounded.

Counting; 1, 2, 3, Mikasa assessed her situation, seeing the odds to be in her favor, she braced herself.

"Why don't you just give us 'yer money and come along quietly…" The larger one placed his thick hand on Mikasa's shoulder, grabbing it, Mikasa managed to fling the crook over her with inhuman ease. The other two were smaller, and proved no challenge for the girl as she punched them both, felling them with swift blows,

Slow clapping formed from behind her.

"Well done Miss Ackerman, my source was right, you are indeed a unique specimen."

Mikasa's gut felt queasy at the sight of the man. His head was completely smooth, save for a few wrinkles, a thick grey mustache upon his face. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, and his smile was not quite right. He held the undeniable air of power and wealth, surrounding him like a blanket.

"What do you want?"

"I understand you're having money issues, is that right?"

The raven-haired girl only got more suspicious, not a single soul new about that save for herself and their guardian. "I have a business that can benefit you." She didn't say anything, but she didn't move either, the man took that as his cue to continue.

"Ever heard of boxing?" Obviously the girl would know what boxing was, so he didn't bother for her confirmation. "I own a little business, you see, and we're running short on employees."

"Cut to the chase."

"Underground street fighting. The pay is rather high, and you are free to bet as well. Sadly the only rule is that you can't kill your opponent, otherwise the cops would get involved too quickly."

"So it's illegal."

"I do much prefer the term underground. Illegal makes it sound so… wrong."

"It is wrong."

"Don't judge so soon, you haven't even had a taste of what it's like." Reaching in to the pocked of his tailored suit, he pulled out a small velvet bag. "Here, try a sample." He tossed it to her, Mikasa caught it with ease. Her eyes widened at the content.

"You put on quite the show then, the odds were against you yet you still won without a scratch, you deserve it." He gave the most disturbing, creepy smile Mikasa had ever seen. "I suggest you take my offer, wouldn't want to get on my bad side." He handed her a small white card, on it, what appeared to be an address and some random number, on the other side, the symbol of two roses with thorns entwining them was printed, with two words at the top:

Dot Pixis

"Show that to the man at the door, he'll show you to the betting pits as well." A black car pulled up, the door swinging open. "I expect I'll be seeing you around Miss Ackerman."

Sliding in to the leather seat with ease, Pixis looked to his confidant.

"Did it work?"

"No way the girl would turn down an offer like _that_."

"But she is friends with the Yeager boy."

Pixis scoffed, "That stupid boy needs to keep his nose out from where it doesn't belong, He has a habit of hospitalizing my ruffians."

His co-worker merely looked outside the car window.

* * *

Mikasa closed the front door gently behind her, praying that Eren was in the bath. She had certainly got home late, it was nearly 8 pm.

"Mikasa…"

Damn.

"Don't avoid the question further, you were late to class, you're _never _late to class!"

"I-" She was going to regret this, "I got in to a fight."

"With who?"

"Someone." Mikasa attempted to walk in to her room. Eren grabbed her wrist, spinning her and pinning her against the wall.

"Who. Were. You. Fighting. With?" His teeth were clenched, eyebrow creased.

"We didn't actually fight because we got caught but-"

"Mikasa, don't you understand!" He pounded a fist at the wall next to her head, "I was worried…" He muttered it, but in the silence of the apartment it could be heard clearly. He looked away, the corner of the room suddenly becoming very interesting.

"It was with Annie."

"What!"

"I don't like her!"

"She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"But she's bad I can sense it!"

"But I think she's fine, in fact, I like her!"

Mikasa was stunned in to silence,

"Wh-what?!" Her eyes widened, her face tinged pink, both teen's suddenly became aware of their close proximity.

"Not like-_like!_ I mean… I just…." Stumbling for words the tension snapped, Mikasa let out a small laugh.

"I'm sorry Eren." She exclaimed rather quickly, cutting off her light giggle.

"You don't have to act like my mother you know, I can look after myself."

Mikasa chuckled. "Hey!"

"I know, I know." Calming herself down she took a deep breath, "I just don't want you to get hurt." Her face turned serious.

"I know, I know." He mimicked the dark-haired girl. "Hey, Mikasa… You have a really dirty mind you know?" He teased, grinning at her.

"D-Do I?" She could feel heat rushing to her face, curse her pale skin for being so transparent.

"I'm joking Mikasa."

"…Oh." She closed the door of her room behind her.

"Wait- Mikasa!" He asked, "What's for dinner?"

* * *

Sasha was still nibbling on breakfast, subtly pulling out crackers one after another, by the time Christa walked in, Ymir following close behind.

"Good Morning!" Christa beamed at the red-head.

"Goof Morfin'" Sasha acknowledged, crumbs falling out of her stuffed mouth.

Sasha was well known for eating too much, her appetite was endless, and her greediness towards food was never ending. There was rarely a time when the girl wasn't eating, and she had a habit of doing it in the worst situations, having no awareness of her surroundings.

"Ymir and I were thinking of having a little outing-"

Ymir coughed and glared at Christa.

"-I was thinking that we should have a little outing."

"Just the two of us?" Sasha frowned, glancing at Ymir.

"No you idiot, all the girls." Ymir rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

"To go shopping for the dance of course!"

"Why would we want to do that?"

"Sasha… what were you going to wear to the dance?"

"I don't know, I didn't think about it, probably jeans."

"Sasha you can't wear something like that to a dance." Christa looked offended.  
"Why not?" Sasha slipped another cracker in to her mouth.

"Stop asking 'why' and just agree already!" Sasha choked from Ymir's short out-burst.

"Sasha are you OK? Breathe, breathe." Christa started patting the girls back soothingly.

"That's a good idea though, we should consider the same."

Ymir turned to face the low voice, she stood only a few inches underneath Reiner.

"Who's we?"

Reiner jabbed a thumb at the human giant behind him, Bertholdt. "Have fun finding a suit in his size." Despite Ymir being the tallest girl in the class, she still had to look up to meet Bertholdt's face.

"I meant all the boys, I doubt idiots like Connie have even considered it." He glanced at the said boy with affection, he was balancing a pencil carefully on the top of his lip. Reiner let out a small laugh.

"I can somehow believe that." Ymir's voice was filled with sarcastic wonder. "In fact I can think of quite a few idiots."

Speaking of the devil, or devils, Eren and Armin entered, Mikasa as well, with Jean following suit.

"When you mean all the girls, do you really mean all of them? Because there are probably…" Sasha began counting on her fingers, wiping away some crumbs in the process. Ymir hit the back of Braus' head.

"You, me, Christa and probably Mikasa."

"What about Annie?" Christa asked timidly. "I think it would be nice of us to invite her…"

"Can you even see her showing up to the dance?" Ymir interjected.

"Ymir stop being so horrible, if she doesn't want to come then she won't right?" Reiner added.

"Great! Go invite Mikasa, I'll talk to Annie."

Arms folded, Ymir watched the short blonde make her way to the back of the room where Annie sat, with a short sigh, she went to invite Mikasa.

* * *

"So how 'bout it?" She finished.

"I guess."

"Pretty sure Christa was planning tomorrow after school."

"I have nothing planned."

"I'll tell her."

Ymir walked away, she was surprised at how easily Mikasa had agreed to come. She hadn't really picked her as the shopping type, hell, Ymir herself was not the shopping type, but Mikasa seemed almost… eager? Ymir wasn't the empathetic type but there was a glint in Mikasa's eyes, although her voice remained unfaltering, and that glint bough about a certain reminiscence of Eren,

* * *

Ymir had thought Mikasa had looked eager, because she was. As much as Mikasa was… Mikasa, she couldn't deny that she had the princess dream. It's not that she wanted to be a princess, but she really did want to wear a nice dress, to not worry and to dance with a cute boy.

She wanted to slap herself in the face for the last detail, she was becoming less and less like herself ever since the whole 'puberty' thing. It wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be, especially without any adult help, it was getting worse by the minute. She had been forced to refer to library books and the scarce information she had gained out of Sex ed., Mikasa felt herself about to cry.

_It's just a mood swing, calm down_

But she also didn't have the money for shopping. Anxiously, she felt a certain card in her pocket. She hadn't looked at it since this so-called 'Pixis' gave it to her, but she hadn't exactly gotten rid of it either. She sneaked a glance in to her pocket.

_67 Karanese Rd_

_28/9_

_1630_

The first line was the address of course, the second was the date, and if the third was the year than Mikasa was a little late. She realized her mistake and saw it as the time, written in 24 hour time.

_That's today…_ she thought, thrusting the card back in to her pocket. It wasn't to hard to get to, Karanese road wasn't even in the dodgiest district of town. She expected it to be in some disgusting little alley way but as far as she knew, this place was near the church. The problem was Eren, there was no way he would support her decision, and she wasn't a very good liar either.

_This is for him, for us. _

"Eren." She whispered, the boy turned to face her, "I forgot to mention but I have to clean up again after school." Eren's mouth twisted, Mikasa chose now to tell him? It wasn't the most urgent information.

"You'll probably have to cook dinner."

Eren's eyes widened, losing all forms suspicion.

_Wow, that was too easy. _Teenage boys were easier to manipulate than she thought.

"You told me this now!" His whispers turned in to a quiet yell.

"Shh!" Armin hushed them and pointed to the teacher.

"Try not to be too late," Eren whispered, "or I might've burnt the apartment down."

"Shh!"

* * *

School went by too fast for Mikasa, she really didn't want to do what she was about to do.

"Why are you still here Ackerman? School is over." Mikasa took a deep breath to deal with the sassy short-ass.

"None of your business."

"I suppose you're right."

Surprised at how easily she won, Mikasa decided to leave before further questions were asked.

* * *

Her palms were sweating as she turned down Karanese road.

_53…_

She shouldn't be doing this, it was a huge mistake, what if Eren found out?

_61…_

She held the small velvet pouch, thankful that she had packed it for the day, inside had been a wad of cash, close to 400 dollars she guessed, even though it didn't seem like much, if she managed to bet correctly it could end up being quite a lot.

_65…_

Pulling out the white card, Mikasa braced herself and entered the front gates of number 67.

Mikasa had been staring at the pavement and had failed to realize that the building she thought was close to the church, was the church.

It was almost a cathedral really, it was shaped in the form of a cross like most religious buildings were with tall spires and flying buttresses, yet on the top was a large dome. She suddenly became disgusted, criminals were using a church to cover up their tracks? She began remembering young Eren's angry glare, the thick scent of coffee on the police officer's breath as he delivered the news.

"Can I help you?" The front doors swung open, Mikasa snapped out of her daze. It was an old man, with a priests uniform on. She thrust the card in his face, he adjusted his glasses, peering at it quizzically.

"I see." His voice lowered, back straightening, "follow me." Everything was getting more wrong by the second. As he led her through one of the confession stalls to a hidden stair case, which spiraled downwards in to an abyss. While she was expecting some dark, dirty pits it was actually slightly pleasant. Tables were placed all around the room, a bar near the front, people chatted amongst themselves, and although they weren't very pleasant themselves, the atmosphere was calming. Next to the bar a huge board was displayed. She assumed here was the betting pits.

_1630: Red vs Tiny _

_Red 20:1_

_Tiny 1:1 _

"Im guessing I'm red?" The man nodded, Mikasa fiddled with her scarf, which had ended up her namesake. "My odds are 20 to one?"

"The only information people have is that you're a girl, automatically puts your odds pretty low in favor."

"So for every dollar I put in, I get 20 back if I win right?" He nodded again. "I see." Mikasa began walking up to the bar, slamming the velvet pouch.

"All on red."

"That there's some risky betting from such a little lady." The man at the bar snorted.

"Meet red herself." The man posing as the priest said over Mikasa's shoulder.

"If you're red than I best be puttin' me money all on tiny." The betting master laughed at his own joke, "but I'll be sure to put 'yer money in fer 'ya."

Mikasa nodded in acknowledgement as the man fumbled with the money.

"Where do I go now?"

The fake priest gestured for her to follow, leading her through a door at the back. She supposed it was the ring, some metal poles with rope strung up in-between them were in the middle, dimly lit by a single light in the roof.

"Perhaps you can see why I prefer the term underground." Pixis emerged, disturbing smile plastered on his face. He chuckled at his own pun. "Thanks for delivering her Dasher," a nod of acknowledgement from her accompaniment. "It seems that the odds are not in your favor today Miss Ackerman. Yet I knew you would come." She glanced away, was she really that easy to predict? "Oops, nearly 4:30, your time to shine is about to hit." He began walking in to the far recesses of the underground room, where a long velvet curtain covered the entrance to a hallway. "I put all my money on you, Mikasa." The sudden change of formality made Mikasa flinch. "Don't disappoint me." He winked and walked through the curtain, his echoing footsteps could still be heard in the eerie silence.

"I'll show you where to go." Dasher huffed.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A classic fight-club voice sounded from hidden speakers. "Welcome to tonight's match! In corner one we have red!" Cheering from the huge crowd could be heard, papers and other litter were being thrown in to the air as the pale girl made her way in to the ring. The crowd was stereotypical of an fight club, loud and rowdy, Mikasa didn't understand how anyone above ground couldn't hear, especially in a silent church. "And in corner two we have… Tiny!" The cheering for tiny was significantly louder, the man being not Tiny at hall. He was huge compared to Mikasa, in both width and height, his clenched fists were the size of her head.

But he would be slow, she realized, for there was no way someone of that build could be agile, unless they were some abnormal freak.

Although Mikasa had her brute strength, her technique was bad, suddenly, her decision seemed like a bad idea.

"_You just… hit." _Eren's face floated in her mind.

Then hit she would.

The sound of a 'ding' from the bell rang out.

She was correct at her guess of him being slow, but she swore that every step he took caused an earthquake. She narrowly dodged each of his blows, although when she tried to retaliate with a strong kick he barely even winced. She kept trying, over and over, at different spots and pressure points, kicks and punches, at one stage he gave a grunt and that was the best reaction she got out of him. Perhaps betting on herself had been a mistake.

It was Mikasa's next move that made her adrenaline rush.

She had been forced in to the corner of the ring, he swung another punch and she narrowly avoided it by rolling to the side, she used to ropes and pulled herself upwards, standing on the top of the ropes, she balanced herself as he attempted to untangle his arm which had been caught in the ropes when he had tried to finish her. Seeing her opening, Mikasa used the rope's buoyancy to propel herself upwards, kicking him in the back of his neck with both feet, using that momentum she managed to backflip and then propelled off her right hand back on to her feet. She had managed to hit the spot she had been aiming for, the spot she had noticed a while back fighting some thieves, it was a pressure point that had a very painful affect. Tiny fell to his knees, rubbing the back of his neck with painful screams. Mikasa walked up behind him, wrapping an arm around his thick neck and keeping him in the choker hold. He struggled but Mikasa kept a foot on his legs to keep him from kicking too much. Eventually, he collapsed as his oxygen was depleted, strangled breaths coming from the unconscious body.

"The winner is…"

"RED!"

The room was dead silent, what had just happened was impossible, she must have been some demi-god to have achieved something like that.

Cheers flooded the room, almost everyone had just lost hundreds of dollars but they couldn't care less because that fight had been amazing.

Dasher returned, _still _in his priest costume, tugging Mikasa through the velvet curtain, leading her through the hallway and up some stairs to a stall.

"That was quite the show Miss Ackerman." Pixis tossed her a much larger velvet pouch. "I think you'll find that that is quite a lot of money."

8000 dollars for one quick fight. That was enough to last Eren and her for weeks if she saved it properly.

"I expect I'll be seeing you around Miss Ackerman." His face was smug as he delivered the same line, although it was certainly true. "Don't worry about the details, my men will find you." Pixis lit a fat cigar, "You better be getting home to your boyfriend."

"He's my family." Her eyes narrowed, Pixis had certainly been keeping an eye on her it seemed, she stormed out of the room.

"Bye-bye now Miss Ackerman." His voice echoed in the hallway, and through the ring, and then the betting pits, and even on the apartment steps could she still hear his rough mysterious voice.

_Bye-bye now Miss Ackerman_

* * *

**_A/N: Yeahhhhh, can't write fight scenes, but practice makes progress. Anyway the dance is coming up soon and the plot should get rolling then, maybe._**

**_Sorry about my lack of fluff._**

**_Thank you to: _****_Shiina Yuki, Zyzz, Alyxielle, Mademoiselle Dara, Whoskylie, , Soccerisawesome19 and the guests_****_ for the feed back! :)_**

**_Next Chapter: Being a Girl is Expensive_**


	4. Chapter 4- Being a Girl is Expensive

**A/N: This chapter is up earlier than usual I guess. Get it up before I get sucked in to doing homework for the rest of eternity. **

**Once again: as teenagers, they will do slight OOC things.**

**Also it has come to my attention that "who isn't excited about a dance?" keep in mind that it is supposed to be terribly cliche and pointless as well as something the group wouldn't enjoy in general.**

_I really need to stop pointing out faults in my story and focus on the __positive_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Being a Girl is Expensive

* * *

"Being a girl is expensive…" Mikasa muttered as she stared at the tag in her hands. If it was just one piece of material why was it so costly? She still had her winnings tucked safely in her pocket, but she didn't want to splurge it all at once, especially on a mere dress.

"This one's nice!" Christa seemed to be the only one enjoying herself, Ymir and Sasha felt out of place, and Mikasa was blue from seeing all the price tags.

"Oh that's right!" Sasha tapped her cheek, "wasn't Annie coming?"

Mikasa tensed up at that name, _they invited her!?_

"She said she had something on…" Christa pouted, she had hoped to get a long with the girl but it wasn't looking like that was going to happen. Mikasa let out a quiet sigh of relief, hoping it would go unnoticed.

"Oh, Mikasa, didn't you get in to a fight with her the other day?"

Mikasa froze up.

"Mikasa, you got in to a fight!?" Sasha's jaw dropped. At least for once she wasn't eating, so no crumbs fell out.

"How did you know about that?" Mikasa kept her calm composure as she sorted through the racks.

"I have connections." Sly like a fox, that was indeed Ymir. Christa swallowed, and cleared her throat. guiltily

"Now, now, Mikasa can do what she wants, right? I think we should just get the shopping over and done with." Suddenly less enthusiastic, Christa began scanning the shop.

"Sasha! This would look great on you!"

"Really- I don't think-" Before Sasha could retaliate, she had been shoved in to a changing room with the dress that Christa had picked.

"Ymir! This was made for you!"

"Wha-" The tanned girl was treated the same as Sasha.

"Mikasa…" Christa wandered for quite sometime, Mikasa steadily watching the girl, before finally reaching in and pulling out a red dress. It was certainly beautiful, but…

"No."

"Why not? This would look great on you."

"It will clash with my scarf."

"Can't you just take it off for one night?"

"No."

Christa sighed, searching again and again. She pulled out many dresses over and over but was rejected by the scarfed girl each time.

"Too short."

"Too long."

"Too Expensive."

"No."

Christa was clearly playing a losing game, until she was forced to play her final card, her trump card.

She held the dress up, the bottom swaying slightly at the motion. Mikasa's eyes glimmered as she stared at the cloth.

"I'll take that as a yes." She gently nudged Mikasa in to the dressing room, as she returned to find her own dress.

* * *

"Come on guys, don't be shy." Christa giggled from outside their dressing rooms. Each girl slowly walked out, while they were certainly used to skirts, dresses were not a luxury nor comfort they had often.

"I feel vulnerable…"

"I can't see myself wearing this…"

The obvious self-consciousness that Ymir and Sasha was facing was laughable. Mikasa had yet to emerge.

"You guys look amazing! Stop trying to hide."

"Easy for you to say…" Ymir muttered, and it was true. Christa was gorgeous, with soft blonde hair and bright blue eyes, her dress was white, going diagonally from her left arm, a black band around the waist, with her smooth creamy skin and the personality and air of a goddess, she was an angel incarnate.

Sasha kept pulling down the skirt of her dress, a black top that melded in to grey above her waist, there were no ruffles although it flared out slightly.

Though Ymir definitely felt the most out of place, even in school underneath her skirt she made it obvious that she was wearing bike shorts. But now with a forest green dress on, a black strip slinking around her neck to hold the dress up, she'd never felt so bare. Beaming at her friends, Christa realized there was one more left.

"Mikasa?" There was no reply. "Mikasa I'm coming in, OK?" Worried for the girl, Christa slid open the curtain. Mikasa stood stock still, hands at her scarf, staring at her reflection.

"Mikasa you look amazing!" Christa's eyes sparkled at the sight before her, it was just a simple black dress, A-line and sleeveless with a high-neck, as well as having two small slits at her waist where her smooth skin was revealed, her iconic red scarf wound around her neck. She held a certain class and elegance, her dark hair shimmering in the yellow light.

"You look like a princess!" Christa squealed.

"An awesome ninja princess!" Sasha giggled alongside the blonde. Mikasa's face softened at her own reflection, she looked _pretty._

"Maybe Yeager will finally notice you, eh?" Mikasa was snapped out of her day-dream by Ymir's words.

"What do you mean by that?" Her face hardened, eyes glaring.

"Nothing."

"Ymir… that's kind of wrong, isn't it? I mean, they are siblings." Christa's voice lowered to a whisper.

"No they're not, Mikasa's adopted, aren't you?" Mikasa nodded warily in reply, confused at where this was going.

"Wait, Mikasa do you _like_ Eren?" Sasha asked, she had not been following the conversation at all.

_Oh, _Mikasa thought,_ that's where it's going_

"We're family." She added sternly, "adopted or not."

"Guess that's the end of that." Ymir yawned, "guess we better hurry up and buy these stupid things." Christa looked disappointed, whether it was Ymir's comment, having to take off the dress, or the abrupt dropping of the conversation, Mikasa couldn't tell.

* * *

"Do you guys have the right accessories?" Christa asked, as she finished off her drink, dabbing lightly at the crumbs around her mouth. The girls had stopped for afternoon tea, which was more like second lunch for Sasha. Mikasa held her scarf up, a puzzling look on her face, what other accessories could she possibly need? "I meant shoes. Bags, even." Christa answered the girl's silent question.

"What's wrong with sneakers?" Sasha queried, drool dripping down her chin. These girls were going to be the death of fashion.

"Looks like we have work to do." Christa rubbed her neck tiredly.

* * *

"How'd you go?" Eren asked as Mikasa walked through the door, he was sitting at the dining room table doing homework. Eren too had been invited to the boy's 'outing', but had decided against it since he had some of his Dad's old shirts anyway.

"I got a dress and-" Realizing Eren didn't really care that much, Mikasa allowed him to return to his work.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Smith told me to let you know that we are setting up for the dance tomorrow."

She leaned her head on the back of her bedroom door. She had almost completely forgotten about her agreement to help prepare for the dance.

"…Thanks."

Agonizingly slow, Mikasa peeled off her school uniform. She opened the velvet pouch, she hadn't had to spend too much on the dress or the extras, seeing the wad of cash had become some sort of comfort routine for her. Seeing the money reminded her that everything was going to be fine. Because it was.

Right?

* * *

Levi flipped open the phone, wanting to stop it's insistent buzzing.

"You called?" He asked the voice on the other end.

"The committee has to set up for the dance tomorrow, and by the committee, I especially mean _you_. Just making sure you won't forget."

Levi let out a quiet 'Hmph', there was a certain question lodged in his throat.

"Go on," Smith coerced, "ask the question you're dying to ask."

Levi paused on the other end.

"Why are you making me do all this? First the stupid committee, then looking after those two brats and now this?" Levi wasn't one to question orders from Irvin, Smith had a habit of having hundreds of hidden intentions, and over the years Levi had become used to spotting out those intentions, although he couldn't even begin to have the slightest clue on this one.

"You owe me don't you?" Smith cleared his throat, "and , well, somebody has to do it."

That was it? He was being lazy?

Levi closed his eyes briefly, calming himself down, snapping the phone shut. Being forced to do all this stupid extra work, Smith had a funny way of making Levi repent for his sins. Levi glanced at the clock, he couldn't be bothered cooking now. He probably had homework to do but it didn't matter, wasn't like the teachers would question him anyway. Slowly, he made his way to the laundry, knowing exactly what would calm him down.

* * *

The school felt like a graveyard. All the year 10's were bummed about the dance the next day, and that was managing to dampen everyone else's mood. Christa may have been the only person with a positive outlook, the fact that they had to wear the dresses had significantly made Ymir and Sasha's energy levels drop and most of the boys saw the dance as a huge waste of time, something that could be put to better use, Eren especially.

"What time does it end?" Connie groaned. The term 'it' was being used more and more, as if to call it by it's true name would bring inevitable destruction.

"It's 7:30 to 11:30. Right?" Bertholdt added shyly.

"What!" Eren suddenly joined their conversation, causing majority of the group to jump at his outburst, "that's insanely late!"

"Dangerously late." Ymir's face twisted in distraught. 11 pm in Shiganshina was when it got nasty, knives and guns got involved, and walking home for people like Eren and Armin, who lived on the other side of town, got risky.

"Christa can I sleep over at yours? Considering you live so close." Ymir asked.

"Huh? Oh sure. Eren and Armin you're welcome to stay too, you guys live pretty far as well, don't you?"

"Isn't that… kind of weird?" Armin's brow furrowed.

"What? Oh no…" Christa nervously laughed, "you would sleep upstairs!"

"Your house has two stories?" Houses themselves were rare, let alone multi-floors.

"Her house is more of a mansion really." Ymir added, recalling the luxurious house.

"I guess that means Mikasa will be joining us too." Christa beamed at the silent girl.

"I hate to be a bother, but do you mind if I join Eren and Armin?" Marco asked, he too lived far away.

"No problem, we have plenty of room!"

"Hey I don't want to miss out on any fun!" Connie yelled.

Soon, more and more requests bombarded the girl, people that didn't even need to stay over had decided to go for the sake of it. It ended up that their whole friendship group would be staying at Christa's.

"This is going to be quite a sleepover." There almost seemed to be a slight bit of drool coming from the corner of Jean's mouth, as he dreamt of who-knows-what.

"Can we just establish that there will be absolutely no contact between the males and the females during this time understood?" Christa let it out in one breath, shocking everyone.

"Yeah…" The group agreed, Christa was serious and that meant _serious_. Plus no one would abide the rules in her own house, lest fear of getting kicked out.

"Annie? Do you want to come?" Christa turned to face the lone-wolf, sitting at her desk in the back corner, but at least she wasn't reading. Annie didn't bother to make a reply. "Please!" Stunned at Christa's dedication, Annie was at a loss for words.

"Whatever."

"Is that a yes?" Christa's face lit up.

"No."

"Here's my address." She scribbled something on a piece of paper, handing it to Annie.

"Please be there." Christa smiled warmly, it was near impossible for even Annie to deny those eyes. She turned to stare out the window, signaling the end of the discussion.

Mikasa watched carefully from the corner of her eye. She didn't know if it was going to be full of tension or just plain awkward if Annie showed up. Nevertheless, she couldn't walk home, despite how strong she was, she couldn't do much against guns. She had no choice to stay at Christa's, whether Annie was there or not.

* * *

By the end of the day, Eren was just about ready to jump out of his skin to leave.

But the dance wasn't going to get set up by itself.

The three walked in silence, Eren, Armin and Mikasa. Ever since high school, the amount of time the trio spent together was becoming less and less. It was times like this where they simply wanted to just enjoy each others company.

Reaching the hall, they were the last to arrive, even Annie and Levi were there. Mikasa kept a watchful eye on both of them, it was just her luck that _he_ was there as well.

"Let's get started shall we?" Hanji dropped a box on the ground, it was full of colorful streamers and other decorations. Petra came up from behind her and did the same.

"You four can do the walls," She pointed to Mikasa, Jean, Armin and Levi, "and you guys do the tables." She gestured to the remaining; Eren and Annie.

"And what are you two doing exactly?" Jean quirked an eyebrow at the two girls.

"Supervising!" They replied with glee.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Jean sighed.

Several ladders were leaning against the wall, a box full of decorations adjacent each one.

"Just set those up however you'd like along the walls." Hanji encouraged the boys, and girl, to get going.

"Now, Eren and Annie, just follow me!" Petra added cheerfully.

"Ackerman, less staring more decorating." Mikasa tore her gaze away and began climbing up the ladder, she was not going to have an outburst at Levi. Not here anyway.

* * *

Mikasa would steal sneaks at the pair whenever she could. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that Annie gave off, her natural instincts telling her to punch the girl in the face.

"I don't get it," Neither Levi's face or voice wavered for a second, "what's your obsession with him anyway?"

Mikasa broke her glare and aimed it at Levi, whose ladder was right next to hers, refusing to answer his question.

"It's like you have a…"

Jean and Armin leaned towards them to hear more.

"Brother complex." He stated it simply, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Someone finally said it." Armin let out in relief.

"The unspoken words." Jean joined the blonde.

"I don't have a brother complex." She kept her calmness, although her words wavered slightly.

Armin gave her a guilty look while Jean continued decorating, avoiding eye contact with the girl.

"Do I?" She fumbled slightly, her foot losing grip on the slippery ladder step.

"Watch it Ackerman." Levi's hand was at her wrist, pulling her forward. She snatched her arm out of his grip.

"Don't touch me." She warned. The conversation having a turn for the worse, Armin and Jean hurriedly returned to decorating, Levi took a sidelong glance, before returning to the wall, scrubbing at one particular spot where a dirt mark was with his finger.

"Filthy." He pulled out one of the phony-looking stars, hoping to cover up the dirt mark with it. But as he attempted to hang it, he realized with a frown, that he was not tall enough too.

"Let me help with that." Mikasa leaned over, taking the star out of his hands and pinning it to the wall. Levi shot her a death glare, it took every muscle in Mikasa's body to not smirk.

* * *

"To the left." Petra ordered Eren and Annie, who held a tablecloth over one of the tables. "A little more… Great!" They set the white cloth down, the edges flowing over in perfect symmetry. "Hang on a sec, I'll just get the centerpieces." The ginger ran off to find the finishing touches, leaving Eren and Annie.

"What did those words mean?" The silence was getting to Eren, and those words had been repeated in his head non-stop.

_Snooze you lose._

_Never make the first move._

"What's the point of teaching if the student doesn't learn." It was more of a statement than a question. Eren clenched his fists, why did she have to be so difficult? All he wanted to do was be able to fight not solve riddles. His brow furrowed in thought.

"Honestly Yeager, it's not even that hard, I bet your sister could tell you the answer, hell, a slug could tell you." Eren tensed up, if he asked Mikasa he'd have to tell her _how _he came about those words; which would inevitably lead to the truth. He didn't want to spoil the surprise so soon. "Why won't you tell her?"

"Why does she need to know?"

Countering a question with a question, Annie didn't know he had it in him.

"What did you do to her?" Annie looked up at Eren's out-of-the-blue question.

"Nothing."

"Wha-"

"I haven't done anything to your sister, she came at me."

"But Mikasa never does something without reason."

"Maybe she's jealous." It would prove a good reason for Mikasa's action. Annie had observed that the girl was prone to succumbing to emotion

"Jealous? Of what?"

Annie didn't reply, only flicking her gaze towards Mikasa. Eren followed it, catching Mikasa staring at them.

"She's so protective." Eren angrily mumbled.

"So that's it."

"Huh?"

"You're learning to fight so you can gain independence from her."

"Wh-what?"

"No surprise, seeing as she has a brother complex." Annie whispered the last bit under her breath.

"She has a what?"

"Nothing."

Petra returned with the box of table-toppers. Different colourful knick-knacks to sit atop the tables spread along the room. Pregnant silence filled the air.

The duo began moving from table to table, setting random objects on each one.

"If you're that desperate to fight I'll teach you again." Annie couldn't believe she was saying this, Eren had some magic ability to make the air so full of tension even she wanted to break it.

"Really?"

Annie nodded.

"Tomorrow?"

"I'm busy, plus we have the dance."

"Oh…" Eren's previously lit-up face dimmed.

"Next week or something."

"Sweet!"

His grin amused Annie for some reason, even causing a small smile to slip on her face. Perhaps it was because his face was so naturally scrunched up, that seeing it so light was ridiculous. Or perhaps it was…

Something else.

* * *

"After tomorrow we will finally be free." Eren yawned as he dropped on to the apartment couch.

"Hm." Mikasa began removing her blazer, tying an apron over the top of her shirt. She carefully pocketed the second white card, it appeared that Pixis had indeed contacted her first, she had found the small thing in the letter box. The card was the same as the last, except that the date written on it was for tomorrow.

"Do you know where Dad's old shirts are? I'm going to need something for that fucking dance tommorow."

"Shouldn't you do your homework."

"Hmph." Being caught-out on his procrastination techniques, Eren stubbornly got his text books and began working.

Mikasa almost never had homework, she was at the top of the class and always finished work early, even if it was a huge project the teacher set outside of class she would finish it as soon as possible. But what Eren hated most was that Mikasa refused to help him cheat, well she didn't actually. It was Eren that refused to cheat, he couldn't live his whole life dependent on Mikasa, nor could he live it in her shadow. Yet how could he not, she was gifted beyond compare. Her withdrawn personality gave her the ability to easily focus, and the sheer will power she possessed allowed her to commit inhuman feats. She was certainly worthy of the reputation she possessed.

* * *

They ate the stew in silence, Eren scoffing each bite as most boys do. Mikasa sipped at the broth quietly, nibbling at each piece, she didn't particularly have an appetite thanks to the thought of her second fight, as well as some certain _cramps._

_"_Is something wrong? You're not eating much." Mikasa was a well-built girl, even more so than Eren, her servings tended to be larger than his.

"I'm fine." She continued to pick at her food, rolling it around in her bowl.

"You didn't get in to a fight did you?" Mikasa nearly dropped her spoon, before realizing he was probably hinting at Annie, having seen the two of them conversing, she assumed they were talking about her little feud with the blonde.

She shook her head.

"Then what's wrong?" His tone was becoming demanding, insisting that something was wrong with her.

"Cramps." She muttered.

"Cramps? Why do you have-" Eren's eyes widened, "-oh." He slinked back in to his seat.

Mikasa wanted to disappear, she felt like such a little girl. That such small things could hurt so much. She had fought five thugs at once and it was _cramps _that was bringing her down?

Finishing quickly and quietly, Eren washed his dishes before retreating in to his room.

Wincing in pain, Mikasa placed her leftovers in the fridge, no point in wasting good food, before retreating in to her own room and collapsing.

* * *

"Wow, Mikasa, do you have abs?" Christa seemed amazed. Mikasa nodded, pulling her P.E top over her body.

"Lift up your shirt again, I missed 'em." Mikasa suddenly felt uncomfortable, but obeyed Ymir's command, she whistled in amazement. "Better than all the boy's I'd say." She shyly lowered her top down.

"Oh, do you want to get ready with Ymir and I tomorrow? We can do each other's hair and-" Christa dawdled.

"No thanks, I have something on." Mikasa darkened, guilt eating away at her stomach.

"That's OK then…" Christa saddened.

Some obnoxious boys wolf-whistled as the girls made their way on to the field.

"And for that sexist comment, you can all run laps." Keith Shadis blew his whistle, all the students groaning.

"Why do girls have to do it too?"

"Good warm up."

"But-"

"Less chatting Braus, more running."

Without another word of complaint, Sasha began the endless cycle of laps.

Mikasa joined in as well, slowly at first, but before she knew it she was at the front, next to Reiner and Eren. She loved running, the feel of her legs taking her wherever they pleased, she felt free. She could forget about all her worries and instead focus on the wind in her face, her scarf flailing out behind her, the warmth of the sun on her skin. She looked over her shoulder, seeing a wheezing Armin and Christa at the back, even Reiner had fallen behind, but Eren was panting beside her. Mikasa's own breath had barely turned uneven yet.

"I… Must… Succeed."

Stunned at his determination, Mikasa decided there really wasn't anything she could say to him. She slowed her pace to allow him breath, stealing a peek at his relaxed face.

Yeah, everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

**A/N: **Phew, that cramps scene made me feel awkward. And if you don't get it, then enjoy your young, naive, youth my friend.

I TRIED SO HARD, to write a boys shopping scene, but I couldn't get it right. Maybe I'll make it a bonus scene or something if I perfect it.

Apologies for the lack of Rivamika and Eremika, need to set up Erennie for that love-rivalry. Woops, said too much. :P

**Thank you: ****Kuro-Inazumi, Flymo-chan ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), lil'chrome-chan, Mademoiselle Dara,whoskylie, Alyxiell, ALW4, Oklahom474, im-michaela, soccerisawesome19, SeraphineHeartfillia, Shinna Yuki, and any guests. ****For Reviewing as well as anyone who favourited and/or followed! :) **

Oh, and if you guys take a bet for who will "win" (why does everyone think it will be Levi?) Then please enlighten me as to why you have that opinion.

Next Chapter: The Dance

(That's right guys, get excited!)

((Don't actually get your hopes up, I would hate to disappoint.))


	5. Chapter 5- The Dance

**A/N: It's finally here. **

**I should consider a beta reader.**

**How OOC is it out of 10? 11**

**Fluff? As best as I can do.**

**Lot of cockblocking, my bad.**

**I'm sorry.**

_I forgot to mention but I do not mean any derogatory attitude towards religion. I'm sorry if you have been offended in anyway, I simply just happen to choose the name 'Churches' by chance. _

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Dance**

* * *

"Mikasa? Our house is this way."

"I said I'd get ready at Christa's." Mikasa was thankful for the legitimate excuse the blonde had given her.

"Girls." Eren snorted, walking away with Armin, Jean and Marco.

"I know right? It only takes like 5 minutes to get ready…"

Jean's voice began fading away as Mikasa walked the opposite direction. The address hadn't changed, the fight was still going to be hosted at the church. Walking down Karanese road, she had no need to count the numbers, keeping her eyes trained on the tall church spire. Reaching the double-doors, she was not surprised to see Dasher standing there. She wondered if his hair was actually grey or if it was a wig. He wore his priest "uniform" as always. She handed the card to him, noticing that she was a lot more calm then the last time she was here.

He led her once again through to the underground betting pits.

"Good evenin' red." The same betting master as before was behind the bar, wiping the bar top down.

She wasn't actually sure how much she should bet, all of the money would be too risky, and she didn't want to get a gambling addiction, although she doubted she would. She peered at the chalk board,

_16:30_

_Forest vs Red_

_Forest 2:1_

_Red 5:1_

Seeing her odds were certainly not as high, Mikasa fished through the small purse, counting out the bills one by one.

"All on 'yerself I gather." Mikasa nodded briefly, walking away as he deposited her bet. She followed Dasher silently, as if it had already become a routine. She wondered what the time was, seeing as the dance was tonight and she absolutely could not be late.

* * *

The match began soon after, the same voice booming over the speakers, the crowd roaring. It really was a work of god that no one above could hear it at all. She began to see Pixis' love of ironic names, as Forest had a huge grey beard adorning his face, it was tinted green by who-knows-what. He was as tall as a tree and as thick as one too, she was beginning to feel that all the men she had been picked against had a common theme occuring. She glanced upwards to see Pixis sitting in the stalls above the cheering crowd.

"Red! Red! Red!" A few faces that she briefly recognized from the previous match cheered her name.

"I don't want to hurt you." At least Forest seemed to have some decency, unlike Tiny; who had happily attempted to destroy her. But if that was his weakness, than she would use it against him. She had ended up betting a few thousand on herself, she was not going to let it go to waste.

But unlike Tiny, Forest was a much better fighter. He was smaller than what Tiny had been, which made him faster, and his technique was greater too. She found herself in way too many close calls; as well as having her own hits blocked, blocking his took quite a toll. She swung at his head, he ducked to dodge, returning with an uppercut. She felt his fist brush past her nose as she dodged just in time. She kicked him right in the stomach since it was wide open, but he grabbed her leg, flinging her on to the ground. She didn't stir as she lay in pain.

"And the winner is… For-" The crowd gasped as the seemingly knocked-out Mikasa stood up, staggering slightly. Forest had let his guard down, and she took the opportunity. She kicked him in the back of the knees, hating herself for copying Annie. She straddled on top of her fallen foe, using the strongest punch she could muster to knock him out.

"…The winner is Red!"

This crowd was outraged, apart from those who had bet on Red. She had technically lost yet they were still allowing it? It was an underground fight-ring, there was undeniably going to be foul play. She saw dasher waiting by the red curtain, beckoning for her to come. She stepped out of the ring, the crowd parting like the red sea. She lifted the curtain over her head, walking through the hallway to the stairs.

"-That was rigged and you know it." Muffled voices could be heard through the door to the stall.

"Now, now Pastor, don't be so hasty."

"_She_," he spat the pronoun out, dripping with acid, "lost."

"I'm afraid that it is _you," _Mikasa could make out the steps of Pixis' bodyguards, threatening whoever it was that was disobeying Pixis, "that lost _your_ money, and I'm afraid I'm not the person to be complaining to." Dasher swung open the door, signaling Mikasa to enter and for Nick to leave. "Miss Ackerman!" His tone sounded like a grandfather expecting a hug. The Pastor shot looks of disgust at Mikasa, but she reflected them with ease. "Another terrific battle. You bet quite a bit more on yourself this time I see." He tossed her a pouch, she noted that this one was leather. "10 000, as expected." She would've squealed with joy if she wasn't surrounded by a bunch of crooks. "Now I suggest you be on your way, lest you're late for the formal." She stiffened. The amount that Pixis knew about her was scary to say the least. "Dance with that Yeager boy for me, quite a nice-looking lad, isn't he?" He grinned, seemingly normal, a plain old-man sort of smile. A plain smile that told her he knew more than he should. Taking the money she shot a glance backwards, Pixis eerie smile remaining, and practically ran down the stairs, she just had to get out of there.

* * *

She stepped outside, blinking at the light. The sun had already began it's decent across the sky, painting it in orange and red hues. She wondered how long she had been inside for, seeing as the dance was soon. She fished around in her school bag, Dasher had been kind enough to put it somewhere safe for her during the fight, pulling out her cell phone. She didn't use it much, her parents (adopted) had bought it for her in case of emergencies. She had no idea who was paying the phone bills but it still worked miraculously. She turned it on for the first time in what seemed like years, the small tune playing as the screen came to life.

_6:00_

It seemed like the sun was setting later than usual, perhaps winter was finally at an end. She walked briskly, the later it got the more dangerous it became.

She arrived at the apartment building in time to see Eren and Armin leaving, they must've gotten ready together. She slid behind a corner to hide. She hated herself for lying to them, but the truth would've been worse.

She crept inside the building, making her way to her room. She pulled out the dark dress, smiling at it affectionately. She slipped it on slowly, relishing the feel of the smooth material. She struggled with the zip on her back, wishing that she had actually got ready at Christa's. She wound the scarf around her neck, holding the fabric lovingly. She quickly brushed her hair, ruffling it in to place. Deeming her appearance acceptable, she went to grab her purse and sleep over bag before leaving. Reaching for the over the shoulder bag she winced. She must've not noticed it before due to the adrenaline rush, but her knuckles were bruised and torn. Glancing at the clock, the dance was about to begin any minute now. She quickly dabbed disinfectant at the wounds, flinching in pain. Deciding it would do for now, she dashed out of the building, nearly tripping, the small heels on her shoes were much more than what she was used to.

The winter chill hit her bare legs rather suddenly. The harsh wind whipping at her bare skin and causing the skirt of her dress to flutter. She hugged the bag closer to her body, just her phone and a small portion of her _winnings _was all she needed, the rest being tucked away safely in her room. She gripped the straps of her backpack, which held what she needed for the sleep over, she was going to put it in her locker when she got to school. Her body tightened in response to the chill. It was nearly 8 'o clock when she arrived, the dance having started half an hour ago.

She could hear the blaring music coming from the hall. Entering the space she noticed that the decorations were completely different. They were placed much more symmetrically, unlike before, where they had been put at complete random; no thanks to Armin and Jean. She guessed that Petra had probably redone the whole thing, that girl was a harsher judger than she let on.

* * *

"Where's Mikasa?" Eren asked.

"Why are you asking us? She's _your_ sister." Ymir scoffed.

"She said she was getting ready with you and Christa."

"She told us that she couldn't come." Christa frowned, worried looks passing between the three.

"She'll be fine, this is Mikasa we're talking about." Armin placed a hand on Eren's shoulder, relaxing him. Still, Eren couldn't tell if he was more disturbed about the fact that she wasn't here yet, or that she lied to him.

* * *

The music was even louder inside, the room was fairly dark, save for a few colored lights gliding across the floor. Mikasa scanned the hall, it was impossible to distinguish any faces in the crowd. She assumed that Eren would not be in the masses dancing, it was definitely something he would never do. The thought almost made her want to smile. Almost.

She made her way to the edge of the room, deciding to do loops until she found them.

"You're late." Levi blocked her path. He wasn't dressed up at all, wearing nothing but a long black sleeve and matching dark jeans. The seniors in the committee had to supervise the dance as well. Severely not in the mood for the shorty's antics, she tried to push past him. He grabbed her wrist on the way out, preventing her from escaping. He held the wrist close to his face, examining her knuckles rather thoroughly. She tried to pull away but he was even stronger than she was, he finally let go, Mikasa stumbling slightly from the release.

His gaze never wavering, he let the girl pass, he really hated this dance. The crowds, the smell of pheromones in the air, the loud, distasteful music. The hall had been filthy when the 'committee' had decorated it. Levi had remained behind with Petra, whom had had the same thought, although she hadn't liked the actual decorating, unlike Levi who had hated the filthiness. It was remarkable how the two had even managed to hang some of the decorations, considering they had a remarkable height disadvantage. Hanji had only sighed before deciding she had too much work to do. He had cleaned that hall until it was as white as snow and now it was going to be all dirtied up again. Levi really needed a drink, and this time, it wasn't coffee that he was after.

* * *

Eren saw the dark-haired girl pushing her way through the crowd towards them. He shot her a glare. She swallowed nervously; he apparently knew she was lying. But the atmosphere wasn't exactly right to ask. Eren could barely hear his own thoughts over the sound of the roaring music. Did people actually enjoy listening to this? He glimpsed at Mikasa, his eyes running over her appearance. Her soft black hair, the dress she was wearing was not one he had seen before, he enjoyed the way it fit on her body, showing off her well shaped legs as well. Biting his tongue to stop his thoughts, he looked away. Eren felt stares on him, finding Mikasa's eyes to be trained on his body as well.

And they were, Mikasa was admiring Eren's outfit. A simple black button-up shirt with a red tie and grey trousers. The fact that their neck accessories matched was amusing. Her eyes switched to the blonde beside him, Armin wore a simple white shirt with suspenders and a bow tie, trust Armin to wear his grandfather's clothes. The trio stood against the wall, leaning rather awkwardly. They were definitely not dancing kind of people.

"You guys are _so_ boring." Marco and Christa emerged from the crowd. Eren and Mikasa continued staring in to space, while Armin shrugged. Marco and Christa grinned at each other, before grabbing one of Armin's arms each and dragging him in to the flock of dancers.

"We'll be back for you!" They shouted, Eren gulped. The wrath of Marco and Christa, seemingly the most timid of the group, was certainly to be feared more than what he thought. Against the deafening noise of the crowd, the silence between Eren and Mikasa was beginning to grow more and more awkward. One was itching for anything to break the tension, and the other just kind of wanted to dance.

"Annie?" Eren shouted over the crowd. Said girl gave a nod of recognition, settling against the wall next to Eren. She wore a simple black dress with spaghetti straps and white lace at the bottom. It looked like she hadn't touched her hair since school, it was still in its usual ponytail. Yet, seeing her in a dress was not something either of the teens expected. It was wrong in a number of ways. Suddenly, a vengeful blonde and a freckled boy reappeared out of the crowd, this time taking Eren with them. Mikasa tried to follow them, but she couldn't even budge through the outer-layer of people, amazed at how Christa and Marco did it.

* * *

Most of the group stood there awkwardly. Connie and Sasha had brought piles of food with them, stuffing their faces, Ymir's arms folded over her chest with a face of disapproval. The most laughable was Bertholdt, who stood tall above the rest, able to peer over everyone's head, he was like a beacon for Marco and Christa to follow.

"You guys are no fun." Christa pursed her lips. A deep bass could be heard, as fast rhythms spilled out of the speakers. "If you guys don't dance to this you can sleep outside tonight." The smile on her face made it seem like she was joking, but there was definitely something off in her tone of voice. Most of the group bobbed awkwardly, slowly building up as the song got more intense. As the chorus dropped even Armin and Ymir were joining in. Eren stood towards the edge, watching them all dance and laugh together. Sasha and Connie were doing the weirdest moves ever. There bodies wiggling in strange ways as crumbs spilled out of their mouths. Eren admired the scene before him, maybe the dance wasn't as bad as he thought. All his friends were happy, and in turn, he let out a small smile. The only one missing was Mikasa, he felt the absence at his side, a twist in his gut. She needed to be here, she _deserved _to be here.

"Come on Eren! Dance!" Christa held his hands, jumping up and down beside him. He faltered for words, the whole group had begun to close in on him, invading his personal space.

"I'm going to find Mikasa!" He shouted, running away from his hunting friends.

Eren moved around endlessly. Being caught in the motion of the sea of dancing teens. He burst out of the main gaggle, panting; it had been quite a ride. He moved his head to and fro, searching for any sign of the dark-haired girl. He finally spotted the red of her scarf, following it through the crowd. She was standing with the three seniors, looking irritated. As he made his way towards them, Mikasa disappeared. The crowd had devoured the scarfed girl. Groaning in frustration, Eren backtracked and tried to estimate where the girl would end up.

* * *

Annie walked away, lest Mikasa try and beat her up again. Mikasa retreated to the wall, giving up on trying to reunite with Eren, if she was lucky maybe some prince charming would whisk her away. She traced her fingers over her hurt knuckles, caressing them cleared their throat next to her.

"If you're so desperate to dance, then just go and dance."

Mikasa immediately turned hostile; when did Levi get there? He leaned casually, hands in his pockets. Turning her nose up, she ignored the dwarfish man. "Stop acting like some snotty brat." His hand left his pocket and hesitated for a split second, before being shoved back in.

"Why aren't you guys dancing?" Petra frowned, she wore a black t-shirt and dark jeans too, it must've been something the seniors had to wear. Both of them shot her a glare.

"Well not together or anything!" She fumbled, "I don't even see Levi as the dancing type but I thought Mikasa was looking forward to it maybe even dancing with E-…" She rambled on, neither teen could even begin to guess what she was saying, she let it out all in one breath.

"Calm down Petra, you look like you're about to explode!" As if to illiterate, Hanji made exploding gestures with her hands. "If you're trying to get Levi to dance, I will pay billions of dollars to see that." She noticed the odd one out, "Hello Mikasa, why aren't you dancing with your friends?"

"Don't want to."

"Don't play it cool brat, just go and fucking dance." Levi pushed the girl with enough force that she managed to get sucked in by the mob.

"Someone's got a ccrrruushhhh~" Hanji said in a baby voice. Levi only rolled his eyes.

"H-have you?" Petra asked in a hushed whisper, Hanji bursting in to laughter.

"Why do I even talk to these idiots?" Levi thought aloud.

"Admit it: You have a soft spot for the girl though." Hanji mused, "perhaps reminding you of a certain past-self?" Hanji was too nosey for her own good.

"Her knuckles." Levi muttered.

"What?"

Levi didn't evaluate, only disappearing in to the shadows.

* * *

Mikasa had been pushed and pulled, being forced in to the flow of the swarm, only to be spat back out again. She gave up trying, she was clearly not allowed to be a part of the troop.

"Mikasa!" She heard Eren's voice over the ear-piercing music. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her, forcing Mikasa to follow him.

_Is he going to-?_

_'Dance with that Yeager boy for me, quite a nice-looking boy, isn't he?'_

And how agonizingly right Pixis was. The black shirt hugged his body, showing off his rather defined arms, broadening his shoulders, the trousers showing the length of his legs, the tie's red accented his bright green eyes.

_Stop. Stop. Stop. _

"Why did you lie to me?" He had led her outside, turning around unexpectedly, bumping heads with Mikasa. She rubbed it sorely, with her injured hand.

"What happened to your hands?" He went to grab them, but she pulled back in time.

"Nothing."

Eren hadn't meant to bring her outside, he was going to lead her to the group originally, but he had seen his opportunity, and when he grabbed her wrist he saw her cut knuckles. Not thinking straight, he had led her outside instead of what he had planned initially.

"Dance isn't over yet Yeager, get back inside." Eren shot a glare at the voice, before realizing it was Levi. Gulping, he hurried back inside, fear of getting his foot stomped on. "Ackerman." His voice prevented Mikasa from following Eren. "I don't know what kind of shit you've gotten yourself into, but I suggest you be more careful."

She stared guiltily at the ground, before slowly retreating inside. Perhaps Levi was nicer than she thought, that was twice now that he had saved her from Eren's anger.

But this was Levi she was thinking about. Not a single nice bone in his body.

* * *

The song finally changed as Mikasa reentered the room, it was one she even recognized as well. Using Christa and Marco's method, she looked for Bertholdt, seeing his sweating head bobbing slightly. Like a lighthouse, she followed the beacon, the collection of dancers was much more accepting this time round, allowing her to move by her own free will. She reached the group, they were smiling and laughing. It was nice to see everyone having a good time. Eren was being pushed around by Jean and Marco, undeniably being teased about his reluctance to dance.

_If you're so desperate to dance, then just go and dance_

She grabbed Eren's hand, careful to not use her injured one, and pulled him away from the group.

"Mikasa, what are you-?"

"Dance with me." She said it straight-faced, so open and honest, Eren found himself unable to refuse. The song was one they both recognized, Eren even kind of liked it. It was sweet, but fast paced, it allowed slower or faster dancing, depending on what you felt like. They stood uncomfortably, despite Mikasa's request and Eren's grudging acceptance –if you could call it that- neither had moved at all.

"I thought you guys could handle it but apparently not." Christa jumped from behind Eren, her partner in crime Marco right beside her. Grabbing Eren's wrists, she forced the boy to move, wiggling her arms along with his. She kicked at his shins, causing him to move his legs to avoid each blow. Marco pulled Mikasa's arms, forcing her to twirl. Mikasa had barely spoken to Marco in her life, but she found herself suppressing a giggle as he span her around and around, completely out of time with the music and making her dizzy. Suddenly her partner swapped, and the petite blonde was instead dancing with her. Their enthusiasm was contagious, rubbing off and the duo. For once, Mikasa felt content, her movements shook all her worries off her, and she was lost in the feel of the music, her feet doing as they pleased. Her partner changed once again, and she was met with the face of her adopted brother. It took a while for either to notice that they were both dancing, let alone together. Their eyes met awkwardly, sharing an embarrassed look, but they were so lost in the music, they didn't really care. Eren held her hands sheepishly, their dancing looked like a three-legged turtle. But neither of them particularly cared. In fact, Mikasa had never felt happier.

_Screw Prince Charming. _She thought blissfully.

_All I need is right here. _

* * *

**A/N: I know some people wanted RivaMika but alas, I cannot please everyone.**

**I'm going to try and make it that there is an equal amount of fluff. So each EreMika moment, will gain a parallel RivaMika moment...**

**Thanks to: Princess Yaminara, Elavan-x, Kuro-Inazumi, Hunny's little bun-bun, Alyxielle, xchrispx150, ALW4, romance123 lover, Shiina Yuki, Flymo-chan and all the guests. Your support is greatly appreciated! Plus you gys have the coolest usernames! Also I recently discovered about replying to reviews, I'm sorry for being noob. From now on I will reply to most, sorry for past reviewers. **

**Once again, this story is an experiment of my writing capabilities. Sorry.**

**Next Chapter: The Aftermath**


	6. Chapter 6- The Aftermath

**A/N: Pointless humour really, and it's not even funny.**

**I ****_did _****have a maths test, but it was cancelled so I got to write this instead.**

**I know people were sort of disappointed about the dance, but I can't please everyone. **

**Seriously, all these chapters are basically fillers.**

**I just want to get the start over and get to the good bits.**

**There are a lot of parallels sort of happening here, just experimenting. **

**Onwards!**

Disclaimer: I do not own: _The Ring, Alien, Jaws, Mario Kart, Love Calculator, Shingeki no Kyojin or that one head-cannon I saw on Tumblr that one time that helped me create one of these scenes._

* * *

Chapter 6: The Aftermath

* * *

The dance ended as late as promised, But the teens' blood was pumping, their night had only began. The group walked together, carefully, through the darkened streets of Shiganshina. Many of the students were wandering out the gates, waiting for parents to pick them up or walking home. Mikasa closely monitored Levi exiting, thankfully in the opposite direction. Relaxing for the night, Mikasa became less tense.

_It was a fun night. _She thought cheerfully, smiling softly downwards. Despite Levi's arrogance, he had done something nice. Even leading to a dance with Eren. She thought about thanking him, but decided he owed her anyway.

_"_That wasn't too bad, now was it?" Reiner slapped Connie on the back, hard enough to nearly break the boy's spine.

_"_Hng, I guess…" He mumbled, refusing to admit he was wrong.

The outside air was significantly more colder than inside had been, the teens' overheated bodies reacting strongly against the swift change of temperature. They all had backpacks or bags full of necessities, squeezing them closer to their bodies against the temperature. Mikasa felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

Even Annie had been caught tagging a long with the group, albeit at the back, refusing to join the conversation. Her own home was rather far away from school, and the sleepover at Christa's had been awfully convenient.

"Are you ever going to make up with her?" Armin asked Mikasa, who had been staring at the girl, lost in thought.

"Probably not." No point in lying, there were bound to be people in this world who could never get a long with Mikasa, Annie was one of them. Armin sighed, unsure of what answer he wanted in the first place. Mikasa stared straight ahead, watching Eren bicker with Jean.

"You're dancing was just _too _good, Eren." Jean snickered at the thought.

"No one asked for your opinion." Eren shoved Jean, a little too hard. This was exactly why he hated dancing in the first place. Jean stumbled a little, shocked at Eren's outbreak, although he should've seen it coming. Marco and Mikasa held Eren and Jean back respectively. The two boys acting like 5-year olds.

"Let me at 'em."

"Did you seriously just say that line?" Ymir's face twisted in disgust, hitting Jean over the back of the head for that comment. "Cliché." She said under her breath. "Just calm down, we're here." Both boys forgot about their feud, even Mikasa and Marco had let go of them to admire the sight. Christa's house definitely wasn't a house, Ymir had been right, it was more of a mansion. Or perhaps castle would fit the estate, with a huge front yard, fountain and all. The house -or castle- was separated in to three wings, with a huge arching doorway dead centre.

The group walked across the courtyard, admiring all the glowing lights. Several cars were parked along the U-shaped drive way, men in suits stood at the doors, opening them for the teens. They all stood in awe, unable to enter the building, except for Ymir, who had grown accustomed to the strange house.

"Earth to you guys." Ymir waved her hand in front of their faces, snapping the group out of their daze. The inside was even grander, with a large staircase bridging upwards and connecting the two wings, many huge pieces of art decorated the walls, some of the stuff looked to be _very _expensive. But the house seemed to be empty, a part from the men at the doors it was completely barren.

Christa ran up the stairs so she could stand tall above the others.

"Boys can stay in the west wing, girls in the east wing." She pointed in each direction, "no contact between either please. Ymir could you please show the girls, I'll handle the boys."

Ymir coughed awkwardly, glaring at the boys, Reiner, Jean and Armin in particular.

"How about _I_ show the boys around and you set up the girls?" Ymir grinned evilly, forcing the group of boys down the west wing.

"No! You can't leave me with her! Somebody help!" Connie started screaming as Ymir dragged him by his collar down the wing, the rest of the boys following wearily.

* * *

"So we'll all be sleeping here." Christa gestured to a pile of mattresses spread out on the floor, already made and everything. "The bathroom is just there," She pointed down the hall, "and now we decide on a movie!" On the wall was a huge flat-screen TV, a cabinet full of hundreds of movies underneath. "Here are a few of my favorites-"

"Hey, Christa?" Sasha began, a loud growling sound could be heard, "have you got any food?"

* * *

"So you guys will sleep here, the bathrooms there, kitchen through there, and feel free to use the TV." Ymir let it all out, the information too fast to take in. "If I catch any of you in the east wing, you better start wearing a helmet… In more than one place." The boys simultaneously gulped.

"Scary." They muttered in agreement.

Once they were sure Ymir had left, they eased-up.

"So, now what?" Connie broke the silence, already bored.

"Watch a movie or something?" Reiner suggested. Not like they had anything better to do.

"I'm hungry." Connie said over the grumbling of his stomach.

* * *

When Ymir arrived at the girl's side, she found them, namely Sasha, pigging out. Bowls of chips and candies lined the floor, empty wrappers strewn everywhere. It had only been five minutes, how on earth had they devoured that much? And they had already got changed in to their pajamas without her. Ymir glimpsed at Sasha, who had a mixture of chocolate, candy and chips in her mouth.

"Oi, Potato girl."

"Mmf?"

"Close your mouth, I don't need to see down there." Right she was, it was a dark brown, goldish abyss that was not safe for mortal eyes.

Christa was nibbling lightly at some chips, while she sorted through a pile of movies, organizing them in to genres.

"So what kind of movie do you feel like watching?"

"Whatever." Ymir yawned. Christa looked at the others for answers, Sasha only nodded her head in agreement, while Mikasa and Annie's faces remained impassive.

"Well, _I _feel like comedy or romantic."

Ymir's face twisted in disgust, cross that one off the list.

"Action?"

There was a small disagreeing snort from Sasha. Christa sighed.

"Horror?"

"Sounds good." Ymir grinned, Sasha's gave a 'mmph' of agreement, even Annie and Mikasa seemed slightly more interested. Christa slumped forward, she _hated _horror movies. But the host had to entertain her guests. Feeling nauseous, she grabbed the horror genre pile.

* * *

"I wonder what the girls are doing." Connie pondered, stuffing his face with chips he got from the kitchen.

"Probably talking about boys or something." Reiner answered, the teens went quiet as they imagined the situation. Christa could certainly be seen talking about it, she would most likely bring up the conversation herself. Sasha would talk about food, Mikasa would talk non-stop about Eren and Ymir…

"To be honest I don't think Ymir swings that way." Reiner said. But it was then that their imagination got out of whack, as Annie was seen all bubbly and over-excited about the conversation.

"I'm… not seeing it." Armin shook his head.

"That would never happen." Bertholdt laughed nervously. Before the thought got too uncomfortable, Marco spoke.

"Why don't we watch a movie?"

"Anyone know any good ones?"

"_Remember the Titans_." Eren said without a moment's hesitation

"Eren, that movie is awful and we all know it." Jean snapped back, Eren scowled.

"Now, now," Marco prevented the boys from starting a fight, "why don't we watch a scary movie?"

"A… scary movie?" Armin stuttered slightly, he was an easy scare, hence making the horror genre one of his least favorites.

He hated them.

"Ooh! How about _Alien_? It's a great one!" Reiner suggested.

"_Alien? _I've never seen it…" Marco said.

"Really? It's a classic! You have to watch it! I'm sure I saw it somewhere…" Reiner began rummaging through the DVD's, reading each title on the spine carefully. "A-ha!" As he selected the one he wanted, he cracked open the case and slid the disc in. "You guys are gonna love this…"

Marco, Armin and Eren shared a worrying look, Reiner's face was covered in malice, they had the feeling they weren't going to enjoy it at all.

* * *

"Yes… This one…" Ymir hissed as she pulled a certain movie out of the pile. Mikasa leaned forward to see what it was, but Ymir's body blocked her vision effectively. She glanced to the other side of the room, where Annie was subtly attempting the same. The air felt thick with tension, but the others didn't notice. It seemed they had a mutual agreement to sit on complete opposite ends of the room, to prevent any contact between the two.

"Oh my gosh Ymir, _no._" Christa had stood up to see what movie the freckled girl had chosen, gasping at the sight. "We are _not _watching _that._"

"But isn't it one of your _favorites?_"

"No! We are not going through this again, last time I-"

"You what? I didn't quite catch that last bit." Ymir smirked.

"I-" Christa stuttered, before leaning over Ymir and attempting to snatch the disc out of her hands.

"Too slow." Ymir slid the DVD in, sound blasting through the speakers as the movie began to play. "Snooze you lose." Annie perked up slightly at those words.

"No." Christa shut her eyes and covered her ears, refusing to watch the movie.

"Your loss." Sasha gave a worried glance at Mikasa, but she merely brushed it off, she never got scared. _Never. _The screen lit up as eerie music played.

_The Ring._

* * *

The boys were all tense. This movie was killing them, _and_ most of the characters. Even Reiner, whom had seen the movie many times, was beginning to grow taut as he remembered the scene that was coming up.

"Dallas, Dallas, _stop._" Armin was definitely _that_ guy, the one who remembered the names of all the characters and cared for them deeply, including talking to them through the screen.

"You can say stop all you want, but this scene is just going to continue." Jean was playing it cool, but he was secretly on the edge of his seat.

"_Dallas_." Armin mewed out the characters name in one final protest, his hand reaching out briefly as if to save him. As the monster finally jumped out, the boys jumped, gasps could be heard from all their mouths.

"FUCK!" Except Marco, who had gasped something else. Almost immediately, Reiner paused the movie.

"Did you just-"

"Marco… Did you… Was-was that a _swear_?" Jean let out in disbelief. Marco _never_ swore, it was law for him to never curse.

"I don't cope well with suspenseful situations." He let out guiltily.

"You're the one who suggested it." Jean replied.

"I thought scary was like.. _Jaws_ or something."

"Jaws visual effects are so outdated, it makes it a comedy." Connie added.

"And here I though Armin would piss his pants first."

"That's not very nice, Jean." Armin frowned.

"Truth hurts." He shrugged.

* * *

"Noah… Just pick up the phone. Then you won't have to die." Christa was also _that _person. Mikasa had to stop her eyelids from drooping, Annie had picked up a book, Sasha was still eating as if the world depended on it, and Ymir was watching Christa, enjoying her reactions thoroughly.

"I can't deal!" Christa whimpered as the ghost girl had the classic coming through the TV screen scene out of the well.

"Well, your reaction was all I wanted to see. No one's watching anyway." Ymir switched the screen off, leaving the room pitch black. Annie switched on the light since it was next to her, and she couldn't read in darkness. Mikasa covered her mouth as she gave a short yawn.

"Yeah, I'm with Mikasa, let's just go to bed." Ymir yawned too, seeing as it was contagious.

They stood up, stretching, and walked over to the mattresses, each girl picking one she would prefer. Mikasa and Annie walked to the same one, a stare down beginning. Sensing the bloodlust radiating off of Mikasa, Ymir and Christa moved Annie, sliding her along to the next bed. Annie reluctantly dropped on to her assigned mattress, Christa and Ymir sighed in relief. Ymir flicked the light off, a short 'Hmph' emanating from Annie as she couldn't read anymore. They lay in silence, save for the awkward munch of Sasha; she always ate in the worst situations.

"What's the time?" Ymir asked. Christa rummaged through her purse beside her bed, clicking the home button on her phone, wincing as the bright light burnt her eyes.

"One in the morning." She replied, placing her phone back.

"I'm not tired at all." Ymir stood up, switching the light back on. Annie was still reading, disregarding her own belief and the fact that it had been pitch black, Sasha was _still _eating, and Mikasa lay there uncomfortably.

"I need to have a shower. Is that OK?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, there's one in the bathroom." Christ replied. Mikasa gave a nod of thanks, glaring at Annie's book as she walked past.

"_Sherlock Holmes?"_ Ymir asked the other short blonde. "Are you one of those classic literature kind of person?"

"No." Annie replied. "I'm just researching something."

Shrugging it off, Ymir looked for some food, but Sasha had eaten every last scrap.

"Christa, Potato-girl, we're going to get food. You want in Annie?" The girl never looked up from her book, seeming lost in its pages. "Your loss then."

* * *

"Eat my dust, Yeager." Jean taunted, as his _Mario _drove right past Eren's _Yoshi_.

"_Mariokart _destroys friendships." Armin added, but he was coming last by a mile, of course he was going to be negative. A whistle sounded, signaling the end of the tournament. Reiner came first, Eren second and Jean was third, the others didn't even rank.

"Well, you guys will never beat a pro." Reiner bragged.

"I can't believe I lost to Eren." Jean stammered, Marco patting his back reassuringly. Eren gave a short cheer, although he had come second, at least he had beaten Jean.

"Maybe we should go to bed before someone gets hurt…" Armin suggested as he saw the look of hatred on Jean's face.

"Good idea." Bertholdt agreed, before Reiner became too arrogant. They all clambered in to bed, laying in strained silence.

"I'm not tired." Connie let out.  
"Neither. "

"I'm bored." Connie whined, "and hungry."

"You just ate." Jean rolled his eyes.

"But now I'm bored and it's making me hungry!" He moaned.

"What do we even do at these things anyway?" Eren asked, he rarely had sleepovers, save for a few in his childhood with Armin and Mikasa. Jean and Reiner shared a look.

"Eren, have you never been to a sleepover before?"

"Never one this big." A 'sleepover', usually consisted of a play date and then tiring themselves out in to exhaustion, forcing a sleepover. Of course, Eren and Armin had grown out of 'play dates' quite a while back, making it years since either had done an activity that could be classified as a 'sleepover'.

"Well, I guess we have to do the obvious then." Jean shrugged, "better talk about girls."

"Why would we do that?" Eren's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Can you actually not think of a reason?" Jean was shocked, "do you even have a sex-drive?" He was beginning to rant. "You live with _Mikasa_ for fucks sake and you don't even-. Ugh." Jean slammed his face in to his pillow, frustration devouring his insides.

"Are you gay?" Marco asked timidly. Eren thought about it briefly, disturbance reaching his features.

"Definitely not."

"So you like girls then?"

"I guess." Eren didn't think about it much, he had bigger fish to fry. Although he couldn't deny the fact that the thought lingered in the back of his mind. But Eren held a certain boyish, immaturity about him, causing him to deny the obvious, as well as having a certain repulsiveness about the idea of _girls_, as if they held cooties.

"Well I think the next question is obvious; who would you guys go out with?" Marco asked it as if he was gathering data.

"Christa." Reiner didn't even hesitate to answer, the girl was cute, kind, caring and smart. What wasn't there to love? The next to answer was Bertholdt, but he had dozed off a while ago.

"Connie?"

"I'm not seeing me with anyone."

"Except maybe a bag of chips and a few cats." Jean snickered, earning a harsh shove from the boy.

"What about Sasha?" Marco was seriously starting to sound like a journalist, squeezing out answers from his prey. Ymir's teasing from the previous week came back, causing Connie to blush.

"Bulls-eye." Jean remarked, making a gun gesture with his hands.

"What? No! I wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about something else!" Connie desperately tried to defend himself, but reporter Marco had moved on.

"Jean is an obvious answer."

"Mikasa." He sighed dreamily.

"What about you, Armin?"

"I don't talk to many girls that often, a part from Mikasa." He risked a sneaky glance at Eren, one which the boys noted, apart from Eren himself. "But I can't see myself with her. Maybe…" Sasha was off the list, as was Christa, Ymir could never be a choice. "Annie?" Armin shared a few classes with the girl, despite her cold personality, she wasn't exactly _mean, _more so quiet. He actually got a long well with the girl, if sitting together in silence could be classified as well. It's not like he wanted to 'go out' with her, but he had to answer the question. Reiner watched the sleeping Bertholdt, knowing his hidden feelings for the girl, thankful that he was asleep. He wondered if Bertl was the jealous type.

"Lucky last." Marco glanced at Eren, luckily no one brought up the fact that Marco should've been last; he got out of the question with a clean escape.

"Well, it would be Mikasa, wouldn't it?" Jean said it as if it was the most obvious thing.

"But she's my sister-" Eren protested.

"_Adopted_ sister." Jean retorted. Technically it wasn't incest, although it sort of was, in their minds at least. Could Eren see her like that? He shut his eyes tightly. He thought of the annoying, over-protective side of Mikasa, her motherly side, certainly he could never be with _her_. But he thought of the dance Mikasa, the one that had blushed slightly, whose body had curves in _all _the right places, the smell of her hair, her dark, alluring eyes-

"No. She _is _my family." Eren concluded, although whether he was convincing himself or the others he wasn't quite sure.

* * *

Christa, Ymir and Sasha walked down the dark hall towards the kitchen. The kitchen was huge as well, with a massive counter and a fridge the size of an elephant, there was even a TV in the kitchen so that the cooks- yes, Christa's family had hired _chefs_- could stay entertained while cooking. They sat there for a while, deciding it would be better to just finish eating in the kitchen, rather than taking the food back. The pantry was stacked with hundreds of different assorted treats, and Ymir decided she better buy Sasha a leash to keep her out of it.

Suddenly, the lights switched off, static playing on the television.

"Ymir… this isn't funny." Christa shuddered, but Ymir was confused as well, she hadn't moved from her spot. The phone rang, causing each girl to jump, and as they looked at phone they saw a figure, with long black hair, dripping wet.

Christa let out a blood curdling scream as the figure stepped closer, it was the ghost girl of the well from _The Ring_.

"Relax." Ymir found the light switch, the figure looked up, revealing a dazed Mikasa, still dripping wet from her shower. Sasha smiled bashfully, pulling the remote from her underside; she had accidentally sat on it.

"Thank goodness, it's just you Mikasa. You gave me such a fright." Christa's hyperventilating had slowed down a bit.

* * *

Jean and Connie stared carefully at the tall, sleeping boy. His limbs were twisted in what would be deemed uncomfortable ways. One arm straight above his head, the other thrown across his waist. He was on an angle slightly, legs spread far apart.

"Marco! The charts please!" Jean commanded, Marco sighing as he threw Jean his phone. Jean unlocked the device, referring to a bunch of crudely draw scribbles.

"According to this." Connie leaned closer in to the phone, noting every detail. "Sunny with a 68% chance of rain!"

"Isn't that percentage a bit _too _precise?" Reiner had grown tired of the boys' antics, they always referred to Bertholdt's sleeping position's as a weather prediction. Every camp, sleepover, _everything_. They always did it. The worst part was; they were always right. It irked him slightly, how Bertholdt's sleeping could be a weather prediction, let alone accurate. Perhaps part of him wished his own sleeping positions could predict part of the future too. The most frustrating bit was how on earth Connie and Jean came up with the idea, as well as the fact that they legitimately had a tool of measurement.

"Can you guys shut up?" Eren was attempting to get some sleep.

"It's a _sleep_over, not an _actual-sleep_over" Jean's arguments were beginning to get more and more stupider as the night progressed.

Eren just gripped the pillow around his ears and attempted to drown the noise out.

* * *

Mikasa had felt dirty. Not only was she covered in sweat, from both dancing and fighting, but she could feel her knuckle wounds reopening, causing blood to dry and cake around her fingers. Hastily, she had ran to the shower, clenching her hands and hiding them behind her back. Although coming back to a practically empty room, save for Annie, had been rather awkward, causing her to find the other girls. But having Christa scream at her presence wasn't very uplifting. With her body cleaned, Mikasa felt refreshed.

"So, now what?" Christa asked, as the girls all tucked themselves into their beds.

"Sleep."

"But I thought we weren't tired?" Sasha said, she finally stopped eating. Ymir's face turned in to one of repulsion as she glanced at Christa, predicting the words that were about to come out of the girl's mouth.

"Let's talk about boys." That earned a groan from Ymir. "Is there a problem?"

Ymir didn't answer the question, avoiding it by giving the silent treatment.

"So then, Sasha?" Christa continued, ignoring Ymir's quiet protests.

"What?" She was completely lost, once again.

"If you had to date someone who would it be?"

"Probably some potatoes." Ymir huffed, Christa shot her a look, her sour mood was bringing down the fun.

"What about Connie?"

"What _about_ Connie? Sasha repeated, the question going through one ear and out the other.

"Would you date him? You guys are pretty close, right?"

"We're friends…. Why would I date him?"

"Your interrogation isn't going to work on her, Christa."

"Ymir!" Christa raged, "just because _you_ don't like anyone doesn't mean the rest of us don't!"

"I like someone…" She spoke under her breath, too quiet for Christa to hear.

"Mikasa! You like someone, right?"

"No."

"What about Eren?" Christa whined in defeat, she had to prove Ymir wrong, for the sake of her honor.

Mikasa thought about it, the feel of his breath at her neck, the shimmer of his beautiful, huge, green-eyes…

"We're family."

"What about Levi then?" Annie queried, her fingers turning a page delicately, she didn't even bother to look up. "I see you two together a lot."

"An older-guy huh?" Christa giggled.

"Isn't he the short one?" Ymir recalled, a grumpy face coming to mind.

"Definitely not." Mikasa denied it, she could _never_ see herself with him. _Never._

"What about you, Annie?"

No reply came from the girl as she continued staring at the pages.

"What about _you_, Christa?" Ymir poked the girl in the face.

"Oh, I don't like anyone, don't be silly." She was denying it a bit too hard, rubbing her face sorely. "I wonder if Sasha and Connie could end up together though." Silence ensued, Sasha as confused as ever, _"_I've got it!" You could see the light bulb dinging above Christa's head as she broke the quietness.

"What?"

Christa pulled out her phone, typing in her passcode. She began swiping through the pages of apps, until finding the one she wanted.

"_Loooovvveee calculator." _A deep voice sounded from the small device.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Love is no joke, Ymir." She replied sternly.

Christa proceeded to type in the name's of her victim, the tapping noise clicking away.

She shoved the screen at Sasha's face.

_Connie Springer and Sasha Braus_

"69% Chance of looooove" Said the deep voice.

"Sugoi!" A smaller voice came afterwards.

"What was that?" Mikasa was referring to the squeaky voice.

"I don't really know…"

"Hey! 69 is pretty sexual." Ymir winked at Sasha.

"Wha-?"

Christa began typing again before Sasha could react, this time throwing the phone at Mikasa.

_Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Yeager_

"50% Chance of looooove!"

"Kawaii!"

"Only fifty?" Christa was disappointed, she thought they were pretty cute together, despite the almost-incest.

"Let me." Ymir took the phone. "What's his last name?" She asked rhetorically to herself, shrugging as she continued.

_Mikasa Ackerman and Levi unknown_

"50% Chance of looooove!"

"Doki doki!"

"Fifty again?"

"Maybe it's broken."

"It's a game." Mikasa stated, almost offended by her low chances of 'looooove'.

"I guess…" Christa mumbled as she typed the last pair in to the device.

"99% Chance of looooove!"

"~Desu!"

She blushed madly at the results on the screen.

"Who did you put in this time?" Ymir asked, attempting to peer at the pair that had such high results.

"No one!" She chucked the phone away, sending it flying.

* * *

Translation notes: (in case you didn't know)

_Doki doki is the Japanese representation of heart beat, sort of like a throb or 'badump'._

_Kawaii usually means cute_

_Sugoi usually means amazing_

_Desu is usually added at the end of a sentence. It has many meanings including 'am', 'is', 'be' and 'are'._

* * *

**A/N: If anyone is confused about the movie scenes featured, they are on youtube if you're really desperate. I chose iconic and well-known movies for that purpose.**

**Thanks to: Flymo-chan, HungerGamesEnthusiast, Shiina Yuki, ALW4, Alyxielle, whoskylie, im-michaela, Oklahom474 and all guests! As well as anyone who faved or followed!**

**I want to have a question of the day thingo, looks fun!**

**So, what are your other ships in SnK? Or your favourite? (Aside from RivaMika or EreMika...)**

**Next Chapter: Cleanin' Up**


	7. Chapter 7- Cleanin' Up

**A/N**: **Ew, boring chapter. One of those awkward bridge chapters that need to lead up to the plot. Apologies, hang with me, it gets better eventually, I promise.** **Absolutely nothing happens in this chapter. (Well obviously something happens, but it's pretty boring.)**

**After taking (and failing) that maths test I had plenty of time to write. **

**I was definitely in emotional withdrawal after episode 22 as well as chapter 49. **

**And since this chapter was so utterly boring I decided to start writing on 9 so that I can get 8 up ASAP to make up for this terrible chapter. (At least it's short.)**

**After that positive note, try and enjoy!**

_The fluff will come eventually, I promise!_

* * *

Chapter 7: Cleanin' Up

* * *

After the sleepover, Eren spent the whole next day sleeping. Since they had only slept for about an hour, no matter how hard he tried, Eren was exhausted. He was a growing boy after all, sleep was very important. Mikasa was much the same, she spent majority of the day yawning and doing the homework that she had to do. It had gotten to the stage that the teachers were so sick of her finishing all the work, that they were setting her extra.

"Hey…Mikasa." He asked from beside her, staring at her intently. "Why were you late to the dance?"

Mikasa was lucky Eren had forgotten about it up until now. She had had days to plan for this.

"Errands."

"Like?"

She had not prepared for a further response.

"Groceries." Her tone of voice was questionable, Eren's gaze remained suspicious.

"Mikasa." He warned.

"Eren." Her eyes matched his own, her face remaining as solid as steel. Shocked by her cold response, and sensing he wasn't going to get any more clarification on the topic, Eren returned to his work, feeling like having another nap.

* * *

As Eren flopped in to his chair, he let out the billionth yawn of the week. Despite spending Saturday, and Sunday, sleeping, he was, and always would be, tired.

The teacher had actually gotten in to class before the students, already writing the lesson on the board as the teenagers continued to chatter.

"You look exhausted, Eren." Armin noted as Eren gazed in to space.

"Wha-? Oh… I guess." He continued staring, he was completely out of it.

"Quiet down." Mr. Zakarius called from the front of the room. "I'm about to tell you guys about the essay coming up…" a groan sounded from the class.

* * *

By recess, Eren was about to collapse of fatigue. But he had something else to do. Making his way to the back of the classroom, sneaking past Mikasa, he slammed his hands on to the blonde's desk.

"We had a deal."

"Lunchtime then." Annie replied, eyes trained on the pages of her book.

"Promise?" He nagged.

"If you leave me alone then sure." Making his way back to his desk, he was stopped by Reiner, his colossal friend close behind.

"You're pretty friendly with Annie, aren't you?" Reiner queried, scrutinizing the green-eyed boy before him. Bertholdt just looked nervous as always, like he had committed murder or something.

"No, she's just helping me with… studying."

"Why don't you ask Mikasa?"

Eren snorted, as if he would ever ask Mikasa, even if he was actually studying.

"Well it's just… Annie-" Reiner was interrupted by a shove from Bertholdt, a warning glare on his face. "-went to our old school is all."

"You guys went to the same middle school?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, we didn't actually know her, but it's just…"

"Just?" Eren was getting more and more confused by the pair. Bertholdt was sending warning signals all over and Reiner was completely ignoring them.

"She has a… _dark_ past."

"Dark?" Bertholdt's shoves were getting worse, his little sweating disorder starting up.

"Just be careful Eren." Reiner gave up, subtlety definitely didn't work on the boy.

"Whatever." Ignoring Reiner's words, he prepared himself for the next class, piling up his books at the side of his desk.

"Eren." He turned to face his adopted sister, "you have a little food… here." She licked her thumb to wipe it away.

"What… no…. ew… Mikasa!... You're not my-... Stop!" And thus begun their struggle, as Eren avoided her attacks and she countered his own resistances.

"And to think…" Christa looked at the pair, acting like five year olds, "they had so much chemistry at the dance…" She mumbled.

"Did you say something Christa?"

"Nothing!"

* * *

"Mikasa!" He cautioned, her last warning. "_Fuck. Off._"

Mikasa looked aghast, she just wanted to wipe it off for him, wasn't that the nice thing to do? But Eren rarely swore, at her anyway. It was hurtful, but she wouldn't show that. She stubbornly sat down in defeat, Eren glaring at her, wiping at the crumb with his sleeve. Armin could feel the thick band of tension, it was beginning to wrap around his own neck and strangle him.

"Huh, could cut the sexual tension with a knife." Connie joked.

"I bet you don't even know what that means."

"Shut up ugly!"

* * *

That was Mikasa for you, babying Eren like always. He clenched his fists, she was getting on his nerves.

He made his way to _their_ little spot. Finding her reading as always. Eren stared at Annie, waiting for her to make the first move. She glanced up from her book, brief disappointment flashed across her face; maybe Eren had interrupted the best part. She raised her fists in her classic stance, eyes daring Eren to try something. He charged at her, and she slammed him in to the ground. The process was repeated a lot of times, until Eren wasn't actually falling but could hold his own, if you could call it that. He could block her blows, preventing her from throwing him, but he couldn't do much more than that. The fact that he was actually improving was kind of impressive.

"Take a break, class is about to start anyway." Annie dropped her stance, cracking her neck.

"We've still got five more minutes!" He whined, begging for extra. He was getting better by the minute, and he was afraid that if he stopped now he would lose it all. She shot daggers at him, preventing any more protests. As he brushed himself off, he asked:

"Hey, where did you learn to fight?"

"My father taught me." She replied bluntly. "Now you answer mine, why are you so desperate to fight? If it's not independence from you sister, then what is it?"

"I guess that's part of it…" He answered begrudgingly, staring at the grey clouds in the sky. "But what I really want, is… I want to do what's right. I want to stop all crime in this town once and for all." Annie was even more curious, Eren was so passionate about such a small thing, she wondered why. "You can't win if you don't fight, and you can't fight if you don't know how." He stood up, his eyes ablaze with violent flames. "That's why I will clear all criminals in this city, and lock them up where they belong, through any means necessary." This seemed like it had more of a backstory then what he let on.

She knocked him to the ground, straddling him.

"What the fuck? I thought you said we were done!"

"Why in this world do you think that those with the most power and riches have it by getting their hands dirty?" She held his collar, pressing her knuckles in to his throat. "How do you think it got to be such a farce? This world isn't some children's book, Yeager, it's cruel and unfair." She stood off of him, her face hardening. "Point is, I can't even pretend to be stupid enough to play hero in this insane world." She looked offended, angered by his words. "There are no happy endings." Picking up her book, she stormed off. Eren remained behind, startled, and hurt; by both her words and her attack. Reiner was right, she really was dangerous. He didn't think it was in her nature to be explosive. It had certainly shocked him, was it something he said?

* * *

Not only did the committee have to set up the dance, but they had to clean it up afterwards too. It was rather disgusting how the hall had been left over the weekend. It was foul, food scraps and spilled drinks lay over the floor, dirty scrapes against the wall. It smelt of sweat and an odd aroma off vomit, which Eren really didn't want to question. The air was thick with the stench, so when he saw Levi with a handkerchief around his mouth, he didn't think it odd, and even looked for one of his own. Mikasa seemed unbothered by the smell. Armin and Jean couldn't even come due to other commitments. Although they hadn't classified on what they were, something to do with some extra class they took, they were involving Mr. Smith, which must of meant it was important. Annie crinkled her nose upon entering the hall, the room was repulsive. Petra clambered down from the ladders, once again set up to remove the decorations, dusting her hands as she approached them.

"Let's get down to business then." She smiled, passing them each a white cloth. "You might want it for the smell." She explained, Eren taking it eagerly. Mikasa denied it, but Annie accepted it rather gratefully.

"We'll have the same then? Annie and Eren on floors with me, Levi and Mikasa on the walls." Hanji passed Eren and Annie mops. Buckets full of soapy water by her feet. Eren grimaced at the acidic splotch on the ground, it was probably the source of the smell.

_This world isn't some children's book, Yeager, it's cruel and unfair. _

Annie may have not been necessarily talking about cleaning up vomit, but it certainly applied in this situation.

* * *

Eren began picking up the litter, flinging it piece by piece in to the garbage bag. Cups, paper plates and ripped streamer, each bit being thrown in to the bag. He glimpsed at Mikasa, she was pulling décor off, placing it neatly in a box beside her. Mikasa obviously got the better job, she was even _luckier _than Eren. Dumping the plastic bag of rubbish to the side, Petra told them it was time to mop. Eren picked up a mop and bucket, and was careful to avoid the vomit stain, heading to the other side of the room.

_Swish, swirl, swish._

Mopping was a tiresome task. Checking on the others, Annie had had the same idea to avoid the puke, cleaning across from the smelly chunks. Annie had been acting rather coldly, although this could be classified as no more than usual, towards Eren. He wasn't sure what he had done, but he supposed he should apologize eventually. He wasn't going to learn fighting from thin air.

Petra had unluckily got stuck with the worse side of the room, inching slowly closer to the barf. Who threw up at a high school dance anyway? They had most likely been drunk, Eren realized, scowling at the thought. Petra looked like some sort of Disney princess as she cleaned, it was easy to imagine small birds fluttering down to sing with her.

She stood out so much, he realized, compared to the personalities of the others. Levi, Annie and Mikasa were all grim, stoic people, Hanji was just plain weird, and Eren was soaked in teenage angst. She was the chirpiest of the group, and the nicest, Petra really didn't fit in.

* * *

Mikasa scrubbed at the walls with a sponge, removing the smudge marks against the wall. Grubby hands had left prints all over it, as well as marks she didn't want to examine up close at all. She squeezed the sponge and watched the water fall in to the bucket. Her mind was running finances. Her winning's were certainly doing a good job of keeping them afloat, but it wouldn't last forever. Their guardian's money was due to come anyway, she would skip out on the next few fights. But _could_ she? It's not like her and Pixis had a contract, what were the guidelines anyway? Who was she kidding, these were criminals she was thinking about, as if there were any rules.

_Criminals_

It left a rancid taste on her tongue. What if Eren found out? What if the police found out? Would it be placed on her record? Worse, would she be sent to Juvenile Detention? Questions swam in her head, just how much trouble had she gotten in to? Her face grew paler by the minute, regret leaving a permanent stain on her mind.

"Oi, brat." Recovering from her thoughts at the sound of the voice, she turned to see what was wrong now. "Clean." He ordered. She got back to work, slightly thankful for the distraction. She worried too much, especially when it came to Eren. Beginning her scrubbing again, she supposed she should apologize to Eren about earlier. Both teens were stubborn in their own way, and hadn't spoken to each other the whole day.

* * *

After constant nagging from Levi insisting that it wasn't good enough, they had finally finished, they removed their handkerchiefs and washed their hands. But the chunky lumps still remained. They had decided to have a draw for who got stuck with the vomit.

"I thought you'd be all over it, Levi?" Hanji mused, her observations on Levi had concluded that he ought to be thorough about cleaning, but apparently she had missed something in the equation.

"These brats deserve punishment for the other day." He looked straight at Mikasa and Annie, "and I won't miss that opportunity."

_Ah, yes, of course… _Hanji started taking mental notes. Apparently the only thing that could out do Levi's OCD would be his slight sadism.

_"_With that note aside…" Petra pulled out a cloth, several pieces of paper inside. "The one with the red dot wins…" She glimpsed at the vomit "…or lose, in this case."

Placing their hands in, sighs of relief passing as each person unfolded blank paper.

"Fuck." Eren cussed as he saw the red dot.

"I can help." Mikasa volunteered.

"Go home." Eren lashed out, twice in one day that she was acting like he was a baby. Tired of Eren's attitude, Mikasa left the building.

"Have fun." Annie bid farewell, thankful that Eren had got stuck with the duty.

"Good luck." Petra cheered, she was nice, but not _that_ nice. Eren would have to deal with the vomit himself.

Hanji mock tipped her hat, hurrying out the door.

Eren stared at the floor for quite some time, contemplating the worth of his life.

"Try baking soda or something." Levi left before he was forced to take over the cleaning himself. Eren sighed until he was out of breath, deciding to take the neat-freak's advice.

* * *

_The small girl peered at the floor._

_This couldn't be happening._

_"I'm sorry Annie, but your father was a bad man, we had no choice." _

_Like they knew what they were talking about. Police were just fat old men with nothing better to do than wear a uniform and pretend like they knew everything._

_Annie glanced up, her previously crying face turned to stone._

_"Like you even care." _

_She wanted to storm out of the building, but she had no where to go. _

_"Of course we care."_

Liars _she thought, _they're all liars.

* * *

The sun had set long ago. No matter how hard he tried, the vomit had refused to go away. It finally managed to rub away slightly, but left the putrid smell. He assumed Levi would fix it anyway.

His eyes dashed nervously back and forth.

It wasn't that rare for Eren to see the sight before him. Classic man fighting for a bag, the woman in question refusing to let go.

"Hey!" He called out, the thief releasing his grip and allowing the woman to escape.

"Little shit!" He called out, charging at Eren. He anticipated the first move though, Eren's opponent being a clear novice. He countered with a swipe to the ankles, loving the effectiveness of that move.

Eren grinned.

"Fuck yes!"

He had won, his first real fight, _without _Mikasa. If you could call it a fight, it had lasted about three seconds. He left the defeated on the concrete, he was probably unconscious but Eren couldn't care less. Scum deserved to be treated like scum.

When he arrived home, victory still hanging in the air, he was surprised at the sight before him. Mikasa was asleep, head at the table, she had probably been waiting for him to come home.

His anger at Mikasa subsided. Acting like a mother all the time must be tiring eventually. He picked her up bridal style, faltering slightly at her weight, she was heavier than he was. Barely holding her up, he carried her to her room.

Her eyes fluttered briefly at the sudden movement. Eren stared at her full lashes, the way they framed her dark eyes. She snuggled closer to his chest, making him nearly fall over. This was hard enough as it was. He dumped her on the bed, relieved to have let go. She moaned contently, snuggling in to the sheets. He tucked her in like when they were five. His gaze lingering on her lips for a split second.

Sometimes Eren got to be fatherly as well.

* * *

**A/N: Next one should be up pretty soon, I don't have a life so should be easy. **

**Sorry about the boring chapter...**

**Question of the day (Er... chapter): Scouting Legion, Military Police, or The Garrison? (Think realistically here come on.) **

**Thank you to: ****ThatGirlIntheBack, StandUpEvenIfYouStandAlone, whoskylie, Kalseru-dono, LightsBright, Lupinara, ALW4, myyriad, Alyxielle, Shiina Yuki, whyspers, Flymo-chan, Endance, and the guests**** for reviewing. As well as anyone who faved or followed!**

**Next Chapter: For or Against**


	8. Chapter 8- For or Against?

**A/N: I suppose this chapter could be classified as boring too but w/e, I liked it. Hanji has got to be the single most funnest character in this entire show, and she is just as fun to write. **

**Some key plot points though... I guess...**

**Next chapter will not suck, so hang with me!**

**Blah, blah, blah...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: For or Against?

* * *

Mikasa sipped the beverage quietly, relishing the hot liquid as it slid down her throat. She had hoped winter was reaching an end, but it seemed to be hitting its peak.

Seeing as they had an important test tomorrow, the trio had decided to study.

Well, Eren had decided to study. Armin would help tutor him, and Mikasa would commit to her own 'study'. They had decided to go out for coffee first, considering how cold it was, and from then on out had retreated in to the library. Compared to most of the dodgy town, at least the library was nice. With grand shelves stacked with books, a cozy atmosphere. It was not exactly a criminal hideout, which allowed it to be one of the nicest, and most peaceful, places in Shiganshina.

It was a common theme to catch students cramming for a test the day before, so Mikasa wasn't surprised when she saw half the student body in large clumps, studying as if their life depended on it. She wasn't even slightly shocked by the senior year levels, whose habits would never change, performing research and whatnot . But what did surprise her, was that of the hundreds of seniors, one of them just _had _to be Levi. Granted, he was there with Hanji and Petra, as well as a few others she didn't recognize, so at least she didn't feel like he was following her. Still, she couldn't disregard the fact that he had seen her wounds from the fight, and she was a hundred percent sure that he knew exactly what they were from. Yet he hadn't approached her in some time. Things were finally becoming normal again, normal like before the dance.

Except for Eren's slight shift in attitude. It was small enough for Mikasa to barely notice. Yet something was off.

"Mikasa?" She recovered from her thoughts, facing the two boys. "Can you solve this?" She leant over the table to see the question. Eren glanced away, as he noticed he could see right down her shirt. Maybe if he just turned a little more he could-

"There." Mikasa sat back in her chair. It was odd for her to have to answer the question, Armin excelled in maths, he never needed help. She faced the blonde, his face revealing nothing. As she turned to observe the seniors, she caught Armin watching her out of the corner of her eye. She slowly moved to face the boys again, Armin's head lowering in to his book.

He had a point, although silently conveyed, she should probably just study instead of worrying like always.

She returned to the pages of the book, answering problems at inhuman speeds. She didn't need to study at all.

* * *

"You deny your crush, yet you gaze from afar." Hanji teased playfully. Levi didn't react as he stacked another book onto the pile in her arms, continuing down the aisle.

_She stared at me first._ He thought stubbornly, but telling Hanji that would only fuel her fires. With the dance finally over Levi had been looking forward to weeks of solitude, only to be shoved in to a group project.

"Petra, check this out!" Erd Gin said as he balanced a pencil on the tip of his nose.

"Very impressive." She clapped half-heartedly.

Especially a group project with these idiots. The senior year levels sometimes had mixed classes, depending on the subject, and thus, this 'team' was formed.

"Oi, brats, get back to work, World War I needs researching." Petra cringed at Auruo's painfully embarrassing impression of their group leader.

"Stop imitating Levi and just be your own person." She hit him with a book, he looked shamefully at said man, hoping he hadn't noticed.

Levi saw a book that seemed perfect, it's title screaming at his face. But it was on the top shelf.

He walked passed, pretending not to have seen it.

"Levi! You missed one." Hanji reached on her tippy-toes, plucking the book from the shelf. "Too short, huh?" She teased, Levi only clicked his tongue in response.

* * *

Mikasa watched Eren impassively, she had finished all the work she could've possible done. Many of the students had cleared out by now, but she could still feel _his_ presence, lingering on the back of her neck. She itched to turn around and keep an eye on Levi, but she could also sense Armin's hanging gaze, even when he wasn't looking her way. She became uncomfortable, feeling the many separate eyes trained on her. She pulled her scarf closer to her face in an attempt to hide herself.

Eren's face scrunched as he examined a particularly difficult question.

"Need help?" She offered, anything to distract her discomfort.

"No." He replied stubbornly, writing something down. She watched him closely, admiring his intense blue-green eyes in concentration. She predicted his next move, she could see the question he was doing, and it was a rather notorious one.

"Wrong again." He muttered in frustration, but the library was dead silent, allowing the words to be heard clearly.

"I can help-"

"No. Just… go do something else."

Eren was being mulish. She knew he hated her overprotectiveness, which caused her to usually just follow him, instead of trying to influence his decisions. But it was just maths, if he wasn't careful; he would fail. However, if he was going to be difficult, than he could pay the price. She stood up abruptly, her face as blank as always, and left the table for something else to do. She wandered the shelves aimlessly, searching for anything to read. Majority were non-fiction though, and she wasn't particularly in a mood for learning.

Although Mikasa wouldn't mind learning about _that. _Her fingers walked to the spine of the book, running down it.

_Fighting Throughout the Ages: Techniques._

"That's not maths."

She jumped at the sound of the voice, she really should have seen it coming.

"Although I suppose you _are_ studying something, but it's not academics."

"What I do in my spare time doesn't concern _you_."

"But it will if you get too deep in shit and someone has to bring the law in to it." Levi argued, his tone steady, arms folded as he leaned casually.

"Then pretend you never knew." She met his stare, her intensity rivaling his own. He never so much as twitched, a fearsome opponent indeed.

"I can't do that."

Why was he being so stubborn? He barely knew her, wasn't it just common courtesy to keep one's nose out of other's business? "Stop being a brat and heed my advice." She placed the book back in the shelf, closing her eyes to compose herself, she refused to lose to her emotions.

"Well I'm not going to." She risked a peek at Eren, careful to see if he was watching or not.

"The shitty brat has no idea, does he?"

"_Eren._" She corrected, "is not involved either."

"Ackerman." He warned, tone darkening. "Anyone who is even slightly close to you, is involved. Watch yourself." He walked away. She hated him more than ever now, and mainly because he was right. She had certainly got herself in 'deep shit', but she had no way of getting out. The pay was amazing, she couldn't discard it now. She felt like screaming, but on the outside she remained tranquil as always. Mikasa wandered back to the table with some random thick book in hand. Armin had been watching of course, and shot her a questioning look. She ignored it as she began to read.

* * *

"Finished." Eren let out in relief, stretching in every direction. Armin had been done a while ago, and simply resorted to doing other subjects. "You guys pack up, I need to go to the bathroom." Mikasa began stacking her books and tucking them away neatly, Armin as well.

"So what was that all about?" Armin asked.

"People sticking their nose in to other's business." She hinted, her tone harsher than intended. Armin looked downwards in surrender.

"Why do you ask?" She attempted to lighten the mood.

"Oh, well, Levi's in my French class, he barely talks at all." Sounded like him. "I was just wondering why you two were talking. Are you friends?" Mikasa suppressed the urge to throw up.

"No." She denied quickly, "We're-" what exactly? They certainly weren't friends, and it's not like they were enemies. She didn't _hate_ him, more so leaning towards simple dislike. "-Peers." That was possibly the lamest excuse she'd ever come up with.

"Shall we?" Eren had returned, ending Armin and Mikasa's brief conversation.

"Allons-y." Armin spoke under his breath.

* * *

Mikasa was rather surprised when she dipped her hand in the mailbox, only to find a small card. Realizing what it was, she slipped it in between the pages of the junk mail. But it took longer to do that than what she had hoped for.

"Is your hand stuck?" Eren queried, eyebrows quirking as he examined her struggling in the small box.

She shook her head, trying to wrench her hand out, before registering that it actually was. Because she had twisted it so much, it had gotten stuck.

Well this was embarrassing.

All because she was hiding some card too.

Eren was torn between taking a picture so that it'd last longer, or actually helping her. He chose the latter, the first being a bit too mean. He grabbed her arm, examining her job.

"Just what the hell did you manage to do?" Somehow her wrist was lodged in the slit of the mailbox, and now she couldn't get it out. Seeing only one solution, Eren pulled, and Mikasa pulled too. It felt like they were going to rip the box out of the wall. Eventually, her hand was free, the sudden release causing Eren to stumble. As he fell, he was still gripping Mikasa's wrist, wrenching her towards him. Mikasa's face was pulled in to his, their noses nearly touching-

They both jumped back as fast as possible.

"Sorry." Mikasa said coolly, unflustered.

"Try not to get your hand stuck in a mail box next time." He was definitely more flustered than his counterpart. Desperate for a change of topic, Eren sorted through the mail briefly, the card slipping out.

"What's this?"

Mikasa gulped quickly, the movement unnoticed by Eren.

"I don't know." She replied calmly, hoping he missed the slight crack in her voice.

"Probably in the wrong letter box." He shoved it into the one adjacent their own, trudging up the steps.

Making sure he was gone, Mikasa slipped her hand in, careful not to get stuck, withdrawing the card. Her body shook with relief, she was lucky that Eren had ignored it.

_Tomorrow _

Such short notice as always. Mikasa followed in Eren's footsteps, biting her tongue as Levi's words replayed in her head.

_Watch yourself_.

* * *

Eren's fingers drummed restlessly against the table. Sure, he was being impatient, but he had studied for hours for this test, he was very anxious to find out his mark.

"How do you think you went?" Armin asked, eager for a conversation to break the silence.

"Fine." Mikasa replied monotonously, continuing to peck at her lunch.

"Yeah, me too." Eren answered, he was trying to play it cool like Mikasa. Inwardly, he thought he had done amazingly.

Armin gave up, they were clearly not in a chatting mood.

* * *

"What do you think of Eren and Mikasa?" Christa questioned, staring at the trio from afar.

"What about 'em?" Ymir replied, her mouth stuffed with food, an accurate impression of Sasha.

"For or against?"

"For or against what?"

"Them together."

"Togetherrr?" Ymir rolled her tongue on the 'r'.

"You know… _Together, _together." Christa answered shyly.

"Against." Ymir responded quickly, without second thought, sipping on her juice box. "They're siblings." She wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

"Adopted-"

"A fact that you didn't even know until a week ago." Ymir pointed out. Christa looked down guiltily. "You _still _wanted them together, _even_ when you thought they were related!?"

"So what!"

"That's like… Incest on the third degree or something." She began sipping again, finishing it off with a slurp. "What's your obsession with romance anyway?"

"What's your obsession with juice boxes." She retorted poorly.

"It's juice in a box, it's amazing."

"Hmph." The two girls had reached a stalemate, the atmosphere quieting down.

"What's up with those two?" Connie gestured to the two girls, clearly avoiding each other's gaze. Reiner and Bertholdt merely shrugged.

* * *

Eren's foot was bouncing up and down. Why was the teacher so _slow? _Walking down the aisle, handing out paper student by student. Fumbling through the pile to find the right test for the right kid. Jean received his, grimacing when he saw the mark. Marco beside him, smiled sheepishly. The teacher placed it on Armin's desk, then Mikasa's and then-

Eren snatched the paper like there was no tomorrow, scanning the page for the mark.

79.5/80

That was an easy A+.

Eren would've jumped with joy had he not been in a classroom. Although he was _so_ close to a hundred percent, he could live.

"How'd you go?"

"Oh uh…" Armin hugged the paper, clinging it tight against his chest. Jean plucked the sheet out of his hands, brows furrowing at the result.

"Armin…I thought you were boy genius."

"N-not really…"

"But you were so great when you helped me out the other day." Marco frowned, glimpsing over Jean's shoulder.

"Oh well I…" The blonde hung his head in defeat. "-I don't deal well under pressure."

"I'll say." Connie cooed as he too admired the mark from behind Jean.

"Mikasa," Eren whispered, "what'd you get?"

She slid the paper across the desk, placing it in full view.

80/80

Half a mark less.

_Half_ a mark.

_And _she got a hundred percent.

_You've got to be fucking kidding me_

He very much felt like punching something.

* * *

Eren didn't even question Mikasa when she said she had errands to run. Strange, but she assumed he simply didn't care. She patted her pockets for the card, freaking out when she couldn't find it. It's not like she really needed it, it was more of a reassurance.

"Going somewhere?" Levi asked casually, holding the card between his middle and index finger.

Mikasa's eyes widened, how had he managed to grab it?

"We all have hidden talents." He answered her unasked question, inspecting the object.

"Give it back." She clenched her fists, not bothering to disguise the anger in her tone.

He flipped the card around, scrutinizing the other side. His eyes unfroze for a split second, before returning to stone. She took the opportunity to snatch the card out of his hand, he made no resistances.

"Stay out of my way." She said over her shoulder, continuing to walk through the cold air.

"Tch," Levi mused, "how overdramatic."

* * *

"Penny for your thoughts?" Hanji asked, seating herself next to Levi at their usual spot in the library. "Thinking about your girlfriend?"

"Levi has a girlfriend?" Gunter exclaimed, dropping books from shock.

"No." Levi shot in before Hanji could, her teasing was getting worse each passing day.

"Right… what was I thinking?" Gunter spoke to himself, disappearing in to the rows to find more resources.

Although Mikasa hadn't originally been in Levi's mind, she was now.

"What's your relationship with her?" Hanji questioned, as if it was some sort of therapy session. Levi should've seen it coming, Hanji loved observing. People, animals, even plants. She would always be noting, no matter what the object. Levi happened to be one of her most favorite experiments, he had such odd behavior patterns. He was an unsolvable puzzle that she was hell-bent on solving.

Mikasa had also been in the back of Hanji's mind. The withdrawn types were certainly the most interesting. But Mikasa was much easier than Levi was. Behavior reflected on what one cared about. Mikasa had family, Levi did not.

"Why do I care?" He asked rhetorically. The brat could do what she wanted.

"By my calculations." Hanji began, Levi braced himself for an hour long lecture. "Mikasa is a logical type, she wouldn't do much without good reason. But she is certainly protective of Eren… and her emotions are prone to overreacting." She bit her cheek in thought. "My conclusion's suggest she only hates those who pose a threat. Such a fascinating topic is why she dislikes _you_. Done anything horrible lately?" She jabbed a finger at his chest. Of course she had already deduced their _relationship._

"Who knows, shitty glasses." He pushed her hand away, brushing his shirt where she had left a crease.

"No one knows!" She exclaimed, bringing attention to the table. "Which is exactly why _I _want to know." She leaned back in to her chair, sighing in bliss. "Such fascinating subjects." She squealed, wriggling in excitement. Levi grunted, shifting slightly in his seat, she looked like she was about to dissect him to find the answer.

"I think they're just so alike, Mikasa can't even stand herself, let alone a generic clone." Petra interjected, "a male clone, I suppose." Levi shot her a death glare. "I mean… well I…" She began rambling on, the others losing interest.

"Ah makes sense." Hanji nodded her head.

"Also!" Petra squeaked. "Levi…isn't…very… nice." The last bit was barely above a whisper. She liked Levi, really and truly, but he came off pretty harsh. He was blunt, painfully so, and people like Mikasa, who repressed their most hidden emotions, did not rub well with that bluntness. He stated the truth she didn't want to hear, creating friction amongst the two.

"Ah! Good observation!" Hanji slung her arm around Petra. "Perhaps we should people-watch sometime!" It sounded like Hanji was asking her out on a date. Petra lowered in to her seat, sliding Hanji's arm off her.

"Back to work." Levi ordered, the other's obeying wordlessly. He had an odd talent off getting people to do exactly what he said.

* * *

It was only Mikasa's third time, but the church was becoming a second home to her. A second home which she hated visiting and dreaded each step she took inside. The betting pits were deserted and the bar was empty. She gave a quizzical look at Dasher, but he only grunted and continued on.

They walked all the way to Pixis' office, said man sat in his large chair, drinking some sort of liqueur.

"Ah, sorry, this is more of a calling than a match." He apologized, his tone unrepentant. "But you see, tomorrow is quite an interesting one." He began, placing his glass down. "You could say that it's the grand finale, of sorts." He was careful to phrase his next statement. "We need you to throw the match."

"What?" She stammered.

"We need you to lose. Everyone goes betting on Red, while I bet on your opponent, earning the grand prize."

"We'll give you a payoff, so it'll be worth it. And you'll be out of the tournament, which means you can dispose of your life of 'crime'. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

It was too convenient. She waited for some sort of catch, anything.

"There is no drawback, I promise. Unless, of course, you're too honorable to lose."

But how could she possibly take Pixis' word seriously? She didn't exactly agree, she just stood like a deer caught in headlights. Dasher took her arm, gesturing for her to leave as he gently pulled her out the door. There were no last words as she left the building, her thoughts too jumbled to make sense of.

* * *

Eren was, after all, a hormonal, testosterone filled, sexually frustrated boy, it was natural for him to go looking for a fight. Or so he told himself.

Besides, this route home was shorter.

If there was any plus side to Shiganshina, it was that if you were looking for a brawl, you came to the right place.

He counted two this time, following behind him. One was closer to him, the other a short distance at the back. He spun on his heel abruptly, taking his stance.

"Hand over your bag."

"Fuck off!"

The first one took their opportunity, charging at him.

_Never make the first move_

Eren easily dodged, retaliating with a hard elbow jab in to their behind. The person arched their back in pain, Eren gave a swift kick at their ankles too.

The other one stood stock-still, sizing up the situation.

_Snooze you lose_

He took the opportunity to attack them, defeating them with minimal resistance from the victim.

Eren grinned smugly, he felt a lot more relieved. Pain started stabbing at the back of his skull, reaching a hand there, he saw blood.

_Fuck, _he thought, collapsing to the ground, seeing one last person.

_There were three…_

* * *

"Eren! Eren!" Mikasa shook the boy. It was just her luck to find him collapsed on the ground on her way home. What was he doing on this side of town anyway? Didn't he know how dangerous it was? It had been clear since they were children that you were _never _to take this route home, regardless of how much shorter it was. He was bleeding slightly from the back of his head, a splintered piece of wood nearby, covered in his blood. His bag was next to him, the contents littered on the ground. Eren hadn't been carrying anything of value anyway. The wound was shallow, not too much damage luckily. Mikasa calmed herself down, looking for anything to bandage the wound. The only thing that could work was her scarf. She wound the red cloth around his head as tight as she could manage, and hoped it would suffice for now. She repacked his bag, slinging it over her shoulder next to her own.

* * *

_Never make the first move_

_Snooze you lose_

Eren really was an idiot. They barely contradicted themselves at all. At least he finally understood them, maybe he could apologize to Annie now.

"Eren!" Mikasa shook him. He felt something thick wrapped around his head. She continued to harass Eren. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, although he had been hoping for more sleep.

Blinking slowly, he realized he had not been in bed, memories flooded back.

"Eren? Are you OK? Should I call an ambulance?" She asked hurriedly, her eyes wide in panic. The sun was directly behind her head, giving her a stronger outline. Her dark eyes were glistening on the brink of tears, her hair framed her face perfectly, contrasting with her porcelain skin.

Eren had his second epiphany for the day, noticing exactly just how pretty Mikasa was.

She had always been pretty to him in a way. Like flowers or the stars, the kind that came through natural beauty, the kind anyone could see.

But she wasn't just pretty, she was gorgeous.

_Ah, fuck. _

"Eren!" She hoisted him up as he used her to balance.

"I'm fine." He pushed off of her, lying. He was most definitely not fine. His hand reached to his head, feeling the thick material around his temple. "Your scarf?"

"I needed to stop the bleeding." He gave her a look of disbelief. "I panicked."

He unwound the material, winding it around her neck, nostalgia flooding back.

"…Thanks Mikasa."

She was caught off-guard by his gratefulness, it was unlike him to be like that.

"For finding me… I don't know what I'd have done."

Mikasa thanked the gods, or whatever entities existed. She couldn't even begin to imagine what might've happened if she hadn't found him.

"Yeah." She smiled at him. "Let's go home, and treat your wounds."

"Good idea." He rubbed his head sorely, feeling a small amount of blood. "As soon as possible."

Needless to say, he thoroughly regretted looking for that fight.

Although Annie's words made sense -he couldn't even believe how he had not understood them- he was injured now, and he also had a newfound appreciation for Mikasa.

In a number of different ways.

* * *

_Allons-y means 'Let's go' in French_

* * *

**A/N: Next time the plot actually begins instead of being painfully slow. *Muffled cheering in the distance* The story should have less boring chapters, and more fluff from here on out. **

**Yes Pixis is incredibly weird, needed a bad guy, sue me.**

**Thanks to: ThatGirlInTheBack, Lupinara, ALW4, Alyxielle, whyspers, RavioliTitan, Flymo-chan and all guests for reviewing, as well as anyone who faved or followed. I forgot to mention but a while back we hit 70, a new personal record for me :) !**

**Question of the chapter: ****Favourite SnK character? (Originality is my middle name)**

**While we're at it: For or Against? (I've basically asked this before but I want to be witty.)**

**Next Chapter: The Truth About Lions**


	9. Chapter 9- The Truth About Lions

**A/N: I am so sorry about the lack of pairings. Mikasa has such a weird relationship with both the boys, I felt like it needed a lot of build up.**

**There is some fluff? I guess? Not sure if you could call it that.**

****PLEASE READ**: I uh... may have subconsciously set the seasons as they are in my country. Which means for majority of you, christmas will be set in summer instead of winter, so the seasons are reversed from what they usually are in the northern hemisphere. Autumn is spring, winter is summer, etc. Easy enough? Right? Yes, having christmas in summer does kind of suck, but it's important to my story that thats how it works out. I don't even know what country this is set in, it has aspects of Japan as well as the western world, you can pick whichever one you want.**

**Putting in a pre-warning that if you only want one ship and none of the other, don't read this fic, geez. If you are happy to put yourself through other ships' fluff to get your own, feel free to continue.**

**My story, I do what I want.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9: The Truth About Lions

* * *

Eren scribbled furiously in a desperate attempt to finish the essay in time. He only had a minute left, and he had barely begun his conclusion.

"Pencil's down." Eren managed the last word just in time, finishing with a full stop that snapped the end of his pencil. Mikasa lightly dropped her pen, cracking her knuckles in an almost threatening way. Armin did the same, stretching his hands out to remove the cramps.

"My hands feel like rubber." Armin said as they left the room, opening and closing them to try and dilute the soreness.

"I'm with you there." Jean joined in, staring at his hands as if they belonged to someone else.

"Where's Marco?" Armin asked, the freckled boy was usually following the horse-faced boy.

"Sick again." Jean shook his head, the two began idle chatter.

"How'd you go?" Eren questioned the silent girl, he didn't particularly care about anything Jean had to say.

"Fine." Mikasa replied. She seemed distracted, although she was always like that. For as long as Eren knew her, she had been withdrawn. But Eren's father had told him that it was just an after effect. He imagined that if her life hadn't turned out the way it had, she would be a bright, charismatic girl. But if Mikasa was like that, Eren probably wouldn't like her.

"Eren?" Caught staring amidst his thoughts, he stumbled for words.

"J-Just thinking, sorry."

"Don't hurt yourself." Jean turned around, taking his opportunity.

"There's a certain amount of times you can say that until it get's old, Jean." Ymir pinched the boy's ear.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"And in your case, it starts after the first."

"Let go!"

"Ymir!" Armin was startled by the tall girl's sudden appearance. "Where's Christa?" Another person who was bound to be trailing behind.

"Called in sick. Wasn't surprised really. Nasty bug been going round." She was still holding on to Jean, who squirmed beneath her, trying to get out of her iron grip. "And I was just on my way to find Sasha when I stumbled across this idiot." She gestured to Jean. "Need me to dispose of him for you?" She asked Mikasa.

"Whatever." Mikasa was still staring in to space, swimming in her own thoughts. Shrugging, Ymir pulled the complaining Jean along.

"Let go of me already!"

"Not until you get some better comebacks!"

Armin watched the bickering duo all the way down the hall.

"I better be getting to my next class." He looked down at his watch.

"What do you have?"

"French."

Mikasa scowled at the mention.

"What do we have?" Eren faced the ebony-haired girl, her face still stretched thin.

"I don't know." She snarled, both boys caught by surprise at her sour tone. "You'll have German, probably." She grumbled. Armin shot Eren a worried glance.

"Well…Ah… See you at lunch!" He waved as he left, Eren's eyes screaming _please don't leave me with her_, Armin only shrugged apologetically.

"Let's go." Mikasa grabbed the boy's sleeve, pulling him along to their lockers.

* * *

"What's up with her?" Whispers surrounded Mikasa as she headed towards her next class. There was only one class that Mikasa and Eren didn't share, and it was their language. Eren had chosen German, while Mikasa had chosen Japanese, and Armin had of course chosen French. She had never been more thankful for Japanese- a subject she found quite tiresome- in her life. She had been up all night thinking, which caused her to lose quite a lot of sleep, leaving her cranky. All she wanted to do was sit and mull things over, but distractions were everywhere here. Most of the students were feeling her dark mood, her face still etched in to a scowl.

"Ackerman!" She rolled her head to face the teacher. "Translate this sentence on the board."

"My dog is white with black spots."

"Wrong! My dog is black with white spots!" The teacher corrected, did those kind of dogs exist anyway?

"Close enough." She turned to stare out the window again, not caring as the teacher started fuming and ranting about what was wrong with this generation, her mind was elsewhere. She was certainly nervous about the fight, this unexpected pay off had her suspicious.

She stared out the window, watching students run track. Mikasa wished she had P.E today, it had a miraculous ability to make her forget her worries.

Alas, she did not.

She rotated back to the board, copying down the intricate characters the teacher scribed.

* * *

"Do you know what's wrong with Mikasa?" Armin asked, catching up to the green eyed boy.

"Don't look at me." Eren raised his hands in surrender, Armin giving him a look of disbelief. "Hey!"

"Look if Mikasa's mad, it's probably your fault."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eren near yelled.

"Yes. Please clarify." With ninja-like stealth, Mikasa appeared, startling the boys.

"Well I have geography next, see you!" Armin ran up to Annie, confounding the girl with his eagerness to converse.

"We have English, right?" Eren asked, unsure himself, also being weary around the brooding girl.

"Yes." Monotonously as usual. Eren could feel the tension himself this time, his clothes suddenly becoming too tight, breathing becoming more strenuous.

"Are you OK…" His voice slowly diminished as he watched Mikasa closely. They passed Hanji and Levi, Mikasa's eyes narrowing so much they were nearly closed, her face glowering at the short man.

Eren didn't know how to feel; relief that her anger wasn't directed at him, or discomfort that she was angry.

"I'm not angry." She stated, reading his thoughts.

"I didn't think that…"

"I'm just…" She scanned her mind for the correct word, "worried."

"Worried? About what-" He was cut off as he entered the classroom, hushed by Mr. Smith.

* * *

He knew.

She had no idea how.

But Levi knew the fight was tonight.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the shorty certainly was perceptive. They had some weird form of communication the two of them, mainly consisting of glares and sneers. On Mikasa's half, anyway.

Every time they crossed each other's paths, she would send him a dirty look, and he wouldn't even as much as glance at her. It was pissing her off.

She wanted him to stop her, she wanted him to tell Eren or something. She deserved to be punished. Acting against her family, acting against the law, acting against her own conscious.

She hated what she was doing. Although she tried to reassure herself it was the right thing, was it? Sure the money was great, hell, it was fantastic, but at what price? She retracted slowly in to her seat, fumbling with her scarf for comfort. To make it worse, her nervousness was shaping in to anger, anger she was taking out on others. It had been built up over the years, and was being released in a burst now, like a slow-motion firework. She was angry at Levi, at Eren and Armin, at Pixis, at herself, at the world.

She rested her cheek on her palm, looking at the birds flying in the sky, free, without a care in the world.

_If only…_

* * *

Mikasa stared at her lunch. Each bite she took only fed the butterflies in her stomach.

"Armin!" Hanji called as she approached the table. "Can I have your notes for French? Teeny-weeny over here didn't take any because he's just too _perfect_." She jabbed a thumb at Levi, whom she had dragged over her with her, he scoffed at her newfound nickname for him.

"Sure. Do you want me to send them to you?"

"That'd be great." She said in relief. She prepared to drag Levi back with her, but was too busy noting something else. "It's like a staring competition between two brick walls." Mikasa and Levi were leering at each other. The dark-haired girl's eyes were challenging, daring him to try something. Levi's were unreadable. "It's like they're communicating!" Hanji squealed. "Fascinating creatures." Her glasses shone maliciously, unnerving both Eren and Armin.

_Try and stop me. _Her eyes dared Levi. They flickered for a brief moment, their shield breaking.

_Please_

And now she was pleading. This girl seriously couldn't make up her mind. Levi didn't act of course. If the girl was going off to die, then she was free to.

No, that's not really what Levi wanted.

"Can we go?" Levi broke his gaze, Mikasa self-satisfied at her 'victory'.

"We're not in a rush to be anywhere… Are we?"

Levi began walking off, Hanji stumbling to catch up.

"They're pretty weird, aren't they?" Armin asked rhetorically, not expecting a reply from either of his best friends.

* * *

Last period and Mikasa felt like she was going to explode. The tension inside her body had just been building up across the day, and she was about to snap.

"Mikasa." She jumped so much at the sound of Armin's voice, she nearly flew out of her seat. "Do you need to see the nurse? You're really pale."

"I'm fine." She cut in, regaining her composure.

"Mika-"

"She said she's fine, didn't she?" Annie interjected, ignoring Mikasa's glare. "Hasn't class started?" She hinted, causing Armin to stumble as he grabbed his books, moving to his desk on the other side of the room.

"I hope you feel better."

"I said I'm fine. Now go." She shooed him off, is this how Eren felt? The trio looked out for each other, that was how it had always been. Well, Mikasa and Armin looking after Eren mainly, that boy was a wreck.

Two hours.

Two hours until her nerves would settle. Two hours until this whole mess would blow over.

Or so she thought.

* * *

"OK guys." Mr. Dita Ness started the lesson. He was a valued teacher, kind and relating, as well as a good educator. "We're going to watch a quick documentary and then some theory." The class groaned at the idea of theory. "I know, I know." He settled the class as images flashed on the screen.

"_Lions are very inactive creatures and can spend up to 20 hours a day resting." _A documentary voice relayed information while footage of the big cats played.

"_Most lions live in groups called prides, which is usually five or six lionesses and only one or two male lions."_

_"Lionesses do most of the hunting for their pride, as they are swifter, smaller, agile and smarter than the male lions."_

"_Although Lions are mainly associated with prides, there is a second social habit called nomads."_

_"Nomad lions move around frequent, usually solitary or in pairs. Unlike prides, these must hunt on their own."_

_"Nomad lions can rejoin prides, and vice versa."_

"Alright guys, worksheet on animal social behavior, let's go!"

* * *

"_Here we have a nomad lioness, making her way to another lion's den."_

_"This den is full of stronger and more dangerous male lions."_

_"This mistake may cost the lioness her life."_

The documentary voice replayed in Mikasa's head constantly, narrating her every move.

She pulled on the ends of her scarf, knuckles whitening. Why was she so nervous now? She had fought here before, neither of those times had her this shaken up.

The image of Pixis' smile crept in to her mind, something was definitely off about today's match.

Dasher didn't even ask for a card as she reached the doors.

Making their way down to the pits, she noticed it was definitely rowdier than usual. People raised their drinks to her as she entered.

"I bet 500 on you Red, dun let me down!" The man slurred as he continued swigging his drink.

"Redddd!" Another cheered, collapsing when he tried to stand.

"_The lioness ignores the males, keeping her head high as she walks to her main objective."  
_She tried to peer at the board, but it was covered by the swarm of drunken men, throwing betting slips at the master.

"Ready?" Dasher held the curtain open for her, a certain sympathy in his eyes.

She nodded slowly, the butterflies in her stomach dissipating as she walked to the ring.

"Ah, Miss Ackerman." Of course Pixis was there, dressed as if attending the ballet. "Your payoff is here." A man beside him unclicked a small box, a large wad of cash inside. She guessed it was somewhat close to ten-thousand. "All you have to do is lose, then it's all yours." He grinned at her. "Think you can do that?"

Easy enough, so why was he being so particular about it? And why did every warning signal in Mikasa's head go off?

"Let the game begin."

* * *

The voices were muffled as she attempted to focus. She played with the hem of her school shirt, perhaps she should have worn something more proper for fighting, at least she had discarded her skirt and used her bike shorts instead.

"Are you ready!?"

Muffled cheering surrounded Mikasa as she scrutinized her opponent. She couldn't see their face, a hood covering majority of it, save for the small thin line of their mouth. Unlike most of her opponents, this one was small, tiny even, smaller than Mikasa herself.

This couldn't be happening. Mikasa tried to shake every inch of doubt off of her.

Not them, please, anyone but them.

The figure removed their hood, taking up their stance.

_No._

* * *

"Where's Levi?" Petra asked, running her finger down the index looking for key words.

"He said he had things to do."

"Like cleaning?" Erd joked, earning a harsh push from Auruo.

"No. He said it was important."

"What's more important than cleaning?"

"To Levi…" Hanji muttered, worried. "Not much."

* * *

Eren couldn't shake the feeling in his gut.

_"I have errands to run"_

Just how many errands could a girl need to run?

Was she keeping something from him? That thought lingered, no, it was undeniable. She _was _keeping something from him, he could tell. But what? What kind of things were there to hide? He thought about the girls he saw on TV, them being his main source of knowledge in that field.

Was she pregnant?

No, he definitely would've noticed by now, and he could not see Mikasa in that situation. Although her having a secret boyfriend-

_God, no._

Or so he convinced himself. If that was what it was, it was definitely the most likely for her to hide and be secretive about, but he highly doubted it.

At least he wanted to doubt it. How was he supposed to react if she brought home her "boyfriend"?

The thought made him want to head-butt a wall and his gut wrench.

She would never… right?

* * *

Mikasa's eyes widened. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening. She would have never thought…

"Leon! Leon! Leon!" The crowd cheered her opponents name.

"Mikasa." Leon challenged.

"Annie." Mikasa was near shaking with rage. She had known from the start that this girl was no good. She should have trusted her intuition more.

"Less talking! More fighting!" Random objects were being thrown in to the ring at the crowd's protests.

"Winner takes all." Mikasa had a feeling Annie was talking about more than just the money.

No wonder Pixis was so engrossed with Mikasa losing the match, she couldn't possibly do it now, her pride really was on the line.

Kick, block. Punch, dodge. The cycle was endless, Annie having a slight advantage. Eren had been right, Mikasa's technique was nothing compared to Annie's. The only thing she did have against the blonde was her strength, but would that suffice?

Her mind was cluttered too. Did she take the pay off? But if she did, wouldn't Annie take all?

Mikasa swung her fist, distracted by her thoughts, Annie managed to fling her on to the ground, straddling her. The blonde's nails dug in to her neck, drawing blood from the tender skin.

She leaned down, slowly, her mouth making brief contact with Mikasa's ear.

"He's mine."

Leonhart threw a punch to top it off, landing smack bang in the middle of Mikasa's face.

Annie stood off of the girl, cracking her knuckles victoriously.

Mikasa spat blood out of her mouth, leaving a goop on the floor beside her.

"You wish." She taunted, swaggering as she stood back up. She tackled Leon in a blind fit of rage, her full strength finally coming in to action. She hit Annie again and again, over and over, so hard that she could feel her wrist cracking, her knuckles splitting.

"Red!" The referee pulled her off. She was panting, her right arm soaked in blood, she couldn't tell if it was hers or Annie's. He gave her a worried look, before his face replaced its mask.

"The winner is Red!" As usual, a mixture of cheers and boos lined the crows. She made out Pixis' jeering look, unaware of the mood behind it. Had he wanted her to win or not? He was impossible to read. As the crowd cleared out, some scrawny looking men began taking care of Annie, treating her wounds. Annie was laughing, laughing like there was no tomorrow, cackling like an evil witch. Mikasa could make out her eyes through the huddling "doctors", they screamed out an emotion she couldn't quite place. It looked victorious, but hadn't she just lost?

"Quite the show Ackerman." Pixis chucked her a towel, a different box containing money shortly after. "I thought we had an agreement. Nevertheless, you were a wild card I was willing to play. It's not the payoff, but I saved something else just in case."

So she still got paid regardless. Mikasa had easily played in to Pixis' hands.

She used the towel to wipe majority of the blood off, chucking the cloth on the ground.

"See you next season!" Pixis waved cheerily as she left the church for good.

Or so she hoped.

* * *

Mikasa walked unsteadily out of the church. Praying she was taking the correct turns. Her head felt like there was an earthquake inside it. Her throat was as dry as sand, her vision blurry. There was a dull pain in her wrist. Each step she took increased the pain in her body, each second that passed amounted to more and more adrenaline wearing off, causing her body to throb in pain. She limped slowly to her street, feeling herself grow fainter by the minute. Before she knew it she was falling, her body failing beneath her and finally giving way.

"I told you not to do it you fucking brat." She found herself in warm, steady hands.

"E-Eren…"

"You're bleeding to death and that's all you can think about? Dumbass." No, it wasn't him. "Where's the nearest hospital-"

"No!" She whined, clinging on to Levi's collar. "I live-" She coughed, tasting blood at the back of her throat. "104… Number 5."

He shook his head slightly at her unwillingness, practically dragging her up the steps of her own apartment.

"Open sesame." He said sarcastically to the door, Mikasa handed him the key. He slid it in to the lock, clicking the door open. Levi's nostrils flared as he examined the shabby apartment. It was definitely the home of two teenagers, the distinct smell of hormones hanging in the air. He dumped the injured on the couch, searching the cabinets for any medicine.

"Top left." She said, slightly smirking. Did she really have to be smug now of all times?

Levi, with the assistance of a chair, managed to reach the first aid kit. Bandages, braces, and ointments laid out neatly in a small box.

His brow furrowed slightly, where was he even supposed to start? She was filthy from head to toe, her body covered in a mixture of blood, sweat and grime. He managed to find a cloth, dipping the piece in a bowl of cold water and removing the caking substances bit by bit. He worked on her head first, wiping away the blood, a nasty gash on her forehead. It didn't look like it need stitches at least, so he wound a bandage around it tightly, hoping it would suffice.

He prodded at her nose, causing Mikasa to hold it in pain.

"Fucking miracle it's not broken." He placed a Band-Aid over it, his eyes deep in concentration as he aimed it perfectly, his face a little too close for comfort. She noticed that his eyes weren't grey, like she had originally thought, but blue.

He reached her neck next, examining the shallow wounds Annie's nails- _claws_- had left behind, dabbing them lightly. It stung a lot but Mikasa ground her teeth through the process.

He made his way to her arms, repeating the process. He had a certain delicateness about him when he reached her knuckles, gently dabbing the tender area, like a cat licking wounds.

_Or a lion. _She thought, her mind wandering back to earlier in the day, before all _this _started.

"You have a boxer's fracture." He mumbled, not really meaning for her to hear.

"What are you, my GP?"

"It's from punching incorrectly brat." He pointed to the middle of her hand. "And if you're going to be a little shit about this you can clean yourself." She shut her mouth, her eyes raging in silent protest. "Looks like you strained your wrist too." He retrieved an ice pack, gesturing for the girl to hold it. "Idiot." He muttered, winding more bandages and sticking more Band-Aids. "Let's see your chest then." He began unbuttoning her shirt.

"What!?" She held her injured arm against her stomach desperately to cover yourself, shocked at his request.

"I'm sure Leonhart punched you there at least once, just making sure you don't have a broken rib or something."

"How did you know I fought Annie?"

Levi ignored her question as he refreshed the cloth.

"Go on then." He pointed to her stomach.

Mikasa hesitantly unbuttoned her shirt, she had never revealed this much skin to anyone, ever. He placed the cloth against her stomach, his eyes didn't even flicker for a split second, cleaning all excess blood. She winced when he jabbed sharply at her ribs.

"It's not broken thank fuck but-"

He was interrupted by the front door opening.

* * *

Eren examined the scene before him.

Mikasa: Topless.

Levi: Next to a topless Mikasa.

He completely disregarded all the medical equipment besides the two.

"I think I'll stay at Armin's." He blurted out, rushing back to the blonde's house. Apparently the secret boyfriend thought hadn't been too far off. But Levi? Mikasa had been acting cold towards him, was it all some hoax? He had just been at Armin's, studying as usual, he hadn't even been out that late! But apparently Mikasa took the opportunity while she could.

_Errands my ass. _He thought bitterly, rushing through the deserted streets, ignoring the fire in his bowel.

* * *

Mikasa was speechless.

"Wait! Eren!" She went to follow him, to explain, but was rejected by Levi as he pushed her back in to place.

"We're not done here brat. You can play house and make-up tomorrow." He applied salve to the bruise on her ribs, a chill sent down Mikasa's spine when his hand lightly brushed the edge of her bra. He moved downwards, straightening out her legs, repeating the familiar process on her knees and shins.

When he reached her ankle he twisted it slightly, Mikasa bit her tongue to prevent the whine escaping.

"You really out did yourself." He slid a brace over her ankle, she flinched at the pain. "Masterpiece." He admired ironically, she was covered in Band-Aids and bandages from head to toe, an ice pack still at her wrist.

"Water." She choked out, grimacing at the soreness of her throat. He looked at her questioningly, before deciding he better do as she wanted.

She had never felt so much relief as her vocal chords were refreshed, water really was a miracle worker.

"How did you manage to find me?" She let out after her fifth glass.

"A glass slipper." Her face scrunched at his poorly timed humor.

"How did you know about it? About everything?"

"Magic." He ridiculed. Mikasa gave up on even trying to get answers.

"Why did you help me?" She yawned, her body taking its toll. "You better… answer me… soon…" Eren's shocked face was the last thing she saw before drifting off.

* * *

"Let me get this straight." Armin confirmed. "You saw Mikasa and Levi-" Eren nodded. "And you need to sleepover in case they-" He nodded faster. "Come in." He gave up, allowing the green-eyed boy through.

"Do you think we should ask Hanji?" She would most likely be the only one to know. Eren didn't think Levi had any friends, but if he did, it would be Hanji. Plus that girl could read people like a book.

"Ask her what?"

"If they're you know…"

"Fucking?" Eren nearly died at Armin's swear. Like Marco, he never swore. Seeing him use such blunt language, especially on such a sensitive topic, was simply appalling. "I guess..." He grabbed his phone, timid Armin returning as the creepy one melted away. He unlocked the device, scrolling through his contacts until reaching the right one. He placed the phone in the middle, switching on speaker.

"Heeellllooooo?"

"Hanji?"

"Armin! What's crackalackin'?"

"Just a quick question about Levi-"

"Levi? Have you noticed how interesting he is too? Fire away!"

"Well, not really, but you see I saw him with Mikasa-"

"Mikasa, eh?" Armin was getting tired of her interrupting.

"_Eren _saw Mikasa and Levi together-."

"Really? Is he jealous, because by my observations-"

"He's not jealous but he _is_ right next to me." He interrupted her this time.

"Ah, continue." She at least took the hint.

"So Eren saw Mikasa and Levi together in a rather compromising position. She was topless, I believe?" Eren nodded, he wasn't really capable of words at the moment. "Levi was right next to her. We were wondering what you knew about their relationship..."

"It's like a delicate flower."

"…What?"

"Their relationship. It's like a rare flower that only blooms once a moon." She sighed euphorically. "This compromising position, would be like ripping the petals open with your bare hands-"

"Hanji!" Eren butted in, her metaphors becoming weird and confusing.

"I'm sure you just misjudged their position. I don't think Levi and Mikasa are that close, nor would Levi, or Mikasa for that matter, ever do such a revealing thing in such a public space. If there was a chance someone might walk in on them, neither of them would take it."

"Thank god." Eren let out, relieved to say the slightest. "Wait, are you saying that they would actually-" His train of though reversed.

"A-ha! You _are _jealous!"

"Bye Hanji!" Armin hung up on the girl, before she started another 3 hour long lecture about her observations, or before the wind changed and Eren's face stayed like that.

"Do we trust her?" Eren thought aloud, sharing a look with his friend.

"Do we have a choice?"

* * *

Levi watched the sleeping girl attentively. She was a lot nicer when she wasn't awake. The whole day had just been one big flashback to his own childhood. He could specifically remember Irvin treating his own wounds of the same kind, teaching Levi in the process. Hanji had been right, he did see a part of himself reflected in her, and that exact part refused to let her suffer like he did. The short man supposed he should go home, but he didn't want to leave her here alone either. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He had pulled himself in to the exact same shit he had warned Mikasa against. Quietly, reluctantly, he looked for something to do, settling on the perfect task to clear his mind.

* * *

**A/N: Sassy Armin is my favorite Armin. (Yeah he was ooc for a split second but let me have my fun.)**

**Did you think she was about to fight Levi? It's what I was going for. You have no idea how much I wanted to cliffhanger that, but decided that I seriously need to get this romance developing.**

**Yeah, yeah. Canon Mikasa wouldn't get injured like that, but cute healing scene is cute. **

**Legit lion facts, I did a little research to get them. Lions are so cool. **

**I know there was a lot of unexplained Levi and Annie in this, it will be justified soon enough.**

**Creepy thing is, is that before episode 23, I had Annie laughing, scrapped it because I though it was too OOC but then placed it back in since the anime helped it become more realistic... I'm a psychic **

**Eremika shippers: your time will come. **

**Thank you to: **** , Reyu6, Lupinara, ALW4, Bodacious Bovine, Alyxielle, Zyzz, Shiina Yuki, SeraphineHeartfilia, ThatGirlInTheBack, Flymo-chan and all the guests****, your support has really kept me going! Also thanks to anyone who faved or followed! I have a feeling we might hit 100 reviews... I'm pretty excited**

**Question of the chapter: Least favorite character? (A tough one, I know, I don't even think I have one...)**

**Next Chapter: Surprise! **

**(It sounds like the next chapter is a surprise, oh my god.)**


	10. Chapter 10- Surprise

**A/N: Took me a while to get this (by my standards anyway). I ended up rewriting about three chapters.**

**It's still not great but whatever.**

**There are a lot of flash backs and dreams, although some of the flash backs don't really belong to anyone, I don't know, it's very confusing.**

**Big thanks to im-micheala for giving me some uh... inspiration. (They pretty much wrote one of these scenes.)**

**Seriously, I can't write fluff at all.**

**But I can totally do awkward situations so:**

**Enjoy!**

[Edit]: Made slight changes

* * *

Chapter 10: Surprise

* * *

_"Mikasa, Mikasa, let down your hair!" She leant out the window, staring down the tower. _

_"I can't Eren! You told me to cut it off when we were young!" Her voice didn't really sound like her own, some distorted version. _

_"Fine!" Eren's certainly wasn't his own, in fact he wasn't himself at all. He had a tiny body, with a largish head. _

_Her scarf threw itself out the ledge as Eren climbed up it with his cute, tiny body. His head was over sized and his voice squeaky, like a small Disney critter. _

_"You can't leave now, we were just getting to know each other." Levi's voice was much like Eren's, although lower and rougher. He was a cat instead of human, with large colourful stripes, some of his body parts were missing._

_"Levi? Cheshire cat? Wrong story." Her brow furrowed._

_"Fuck off brat, it's your dream anyway." _

_"Dream?" As she suddenly became aware of her situation, it began to fade away. _

_"Wow, you didn't work that out before, dumbass."_

_"Eren!?" Even in a dream Mikasa was shocked at tiny-Eren's personality change. _

_"Bye-bye now Miss Ackerman." That certainly wasn't Eren. _

* * *

"Nng…Eren…" Just what kind of dream was Mikasa having? "L=Levi…" She moaned. Levi suddenly became much more interested to find out, sexual fantasies so young?

_They grow up so fast _

Her eyelids fluttered open, onyx eyes squinting at the light. She barely recognized the apartment, since it was sparkling clean.

"Morning, princess." Levi glanced at the clock. "Or afternoon I suppose."

"How long was I out for?"

"About a day."

"What!?"

She got up abruptly. She had school today, didn't she? But as she did so, she felt her muscles ache, her head felt light. She fell back on to the couch, sighing in defeat. The room was dead silent.

"Thanks for saving me… I guess…" She mumbled, anxious to break the silence and assuming she needed to show a little gratitude, if only a little.

_I guess!? _Levi's brow twitched.

"Well if I hadn't found you, you'd probably be dead. So you're welcome, _I guess_." His voice dripped with malice.

"What's your problem? I'm trying to apologize!" She shouted, hurting her still-sore throat in the process.

"Well you're not doing a very good job, now are you?" He replied cooly. Mikasa puffed out her cheeks, folding her arms. She looked like a five year-old throwing a tantrum. "If you could stop being hostile for five seconds, maybe you could consider that we got off on the wrong foot." Levi didn't particularly want to make friends with the girl, but Eren had yet to return, and he didn't want to spend his afternoon verbally sparring.

"Fine." She agreed. But all she could do was sit and think. She thought about Eren, remembering him walking in on them. How exactly was she going to explain this?

_Oh, you know, I just fell down the stairs…_

_Four times._

_Levi just happened to be passing by._

Like he was going to buy that. The boy was naïve, but not _that_ naïve.

The quietness was beginning to get to her, Levi had a certain way of making it strenuous.

"How are your wounds?" Apparently, he felt the same way.

"Fine."

Levi double-checked anyway, slightly amazed at how fast the girl had healed, like some sort of monster. Although for her muscle sprains and bone fractures, the same could not be said.

"Don't over use your hand too much and it should heal fine. It's the most serious."

"Are you going to be a doctor?" He was stunned momentarily from her question, it was not rude like majority of what she said to him, and the bluntness of it was surprising.

"That's the plan." Ever since that day, when Irvin had taken the young Levi in and healed his wounds, he knew how he would repay society.

Mikasa hadn't actually expected him to answer her question.

"What about you? Or are you just going to stick to crime?"

She turned sour at his suggestion, also because she realized she didn't actually know. She spent her whole life worrying about Eren and her other friends, she had forgotten to worry about herself.

"How did you find me?" Change of topic. Levi opened his mouth to answer Mikasa's question. "If you make another cheeky remark I'll cut your tongue off." He didn't really take the threat, but decided against his original plans anyway.

"You were pretty easy to read." He began as cleaned and redressed her wounds. "You were completely on edge. The card had the address on it. I waited outside and watched your injured self stumble on home." Despite the attentiveness he was paying to the injuries, he still made it look like he didn't care.

"You followed me?"

"Minor details."

It was a lot to take in, Levi was even sharper than what she had expected.

"Why? Why did you help me?"

Levi stared at the corner of the room, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I've been where you are." He pursed his lips, the honesty was killing him. "I don't want anyone…" His voice dropped at the last part. Mikasa leaned in to hear him correctly.

"What?"

"I don't want anyone to suffer the way I did." He repeated begrudgingly, looking away as he finished with her injuries.

That certainly wasn't the reply Mikasa expected.

Hell, it was kind of cute.

"I regret it you know… trust me…" She stared at her injured arm, twisting her wrist to feel the pain.

"Really? I mean, ten grand kind of makes it worth it, don't you think?" He chucked her the wad of cash from the side of the room where he now stood, her reflexes acting for her. "Not to mention these." He threw the other velvet and leather pouches. "That was sarcasm if you didn't get that."

"Thanks." She replied, equally as sarcastic. "Where did you find these?"

"I cleaned if you didn't notice, including the laundry." He gave her an unreadable look "Underwear draw? Really?"

"I didn't really expect anyone to go sorting through them like a pervert."

"Tch."

Mikasa had got him good with that one, smug at her miniscule victory.

It appeared they would never get along.

Levi pulled out his phone as the beeper went off, signaling end of conversation.

_Hanji- 3:32 pm_

_Where were you today?_

_Eren said he walked in on you and Mikasa?_

_I covered for you, don't worry ;)_

_I hope you used protection._

Levi snapped his phone shut so hard it might break.

Why did he even give his number to Hanji in the first place?

* * *

_Annie stared blankly at the floor. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be true. She hugged the animal under her jacket to her chest harder, the gift from her father._

_She knew he had been having difficulty supporting their family. But was he so desperate for money that he could do such an unspeakable act?_

_"Annie." She jumped at the sound of her name coming from that voice. For as long as she could remember, her father always called her 'lion-heart' or 'cub' a somewhat strange but sweet affectionate nick name. But if he ever did use her first name, it meant something was wrong. _

_"Father." She acknowledged him, her voice already too mature for her age._

_"Please… forgive me… I won't be able to keep on-"_

_Annie silenced him with a glare. Even now, everything was always about him. Did he think of her when he murdered two people? She doubted it. _

_"If you didn't want this, you shouldn't have killed them." It was hard to face her father, a murderer. He only smiled softly, his eyes watering._

_"I suppose you're right." _

_And that was when she realised, this world was built on pity. Her father expected pity, but he would receive none. And even here, in the police station, everyone's glare was merciful._

Poor child_ they would think, but they would not mean it. Did anyone truly care if her father was a murderer? Hadn't her family brought it upon themselves after all. _

_"Time's up." A policeman took her handcuffed father, dragging him away._

_"Come visit me, Annie."_

* * *

Eren stood at the door, a little hesitant to say the least.

Mikasa nor Levi had come to school today, it had him worried.

He had blown most of the afternoon off at Armin's, refusing to face Mikasa, or worse, Levi.

He fumbled about for his keys, before realizing that he had forgotten them.

Reluctantly, he knocked on the door, making a mental note to _always _remember his key.

1…2…3…

It swung open revealing a disgruntled Levi.

"Take your fucking time. She's all yours."

He walked straight past Eren, his near broken phone still clenched tightly in his hand. Eren felt like he had just tag-teamed with Levi.

Mikasa fumbled in panic with the large amounts of money that the short man had uncovered, pushing them in to the cracks of the couch.

"Uh…Hey…" Eren rubbed the back of his neck, he was trying to act casual but it didn't last long. "Care to fucking explain?" He gestured at the open door which Levi had made his exit. "And this!" He added quickly, only just having noticed, attention to detail was certainly not his strongest trait. He waved his hands at her body. "You look like you fell down the stairs." His eyes gave her a once over. "Four times!" Eren's anger could not be contained any longer.

"I got in to a fight." She replied simply.

"With who? The fucking hulk!?"

What was it, sarcasm day?

"I don't know who they were!" Mikasa's voice was beginning to raise too, his temper was contagious.

"Are you sure you and Levi didn't just have a _rough _night?!"

'_A-ha! You are jealous' _Hanji's voice ran through Eren's mind.

"What are you implying?" Her tone darkened.

"I think you know." Eren's lowered to match hers.

She faced him, noses nearly touching. Eren was momentarily startled by the fury in her eyes.

She slapped him.

Hard.

"Jerk." Her eyes were stinging as she stormed away, still limping, in to her own room, slamming her door shut and sending a message.

Eren placed his hand on the burning mark Mikasa had left on his cheek.

"Fuck."

He approached her door wearily, rapping on it lightly.

"Mikasa…"

There was no reply.

* * *

_"Mama, look!"_

_"Amazing work Mikasa. You will be able to teach your own children after this." _

_"Children…" The young girl's eyes sparkled at the thought of having her own happy family. "How are children made anyway?" She turned to her father for an answer._

_"Well…uh… you'll just have to ask Dr. Yeager about that…" Her father pulled on his collar nervously, clearing his throat. She shrugged it off, the doctor was due to arrive soon. As if on cue, there was rattling at the door, but it was strange, didn't people usually knock first? _

_"I'm coming." Her father rushed to the door, thankful for the distraction from the conversation. He stumbled backwards, hands raised at the sharp implement pointed straight at him._

_"I thought you said no one was home." The one at the front turned to someone behind the door, out of Mikasa's sight._

_"T-There wasn't…I swear…" A high pitched-voice, a girl maybe? _

_"Who cares? These guys are fucking loaded, let's just get this done with." A second one stepped out, this one had a gun. They all had balaclavas over their faces, masking their identity._

_"Alright listen up. You fuckers better sit back to back, we'll tie you up, take your money and be off. Is that understood?"_

_Mikasa's mind turned hazy under fear._

_"Mama what's-"_

_"Just do as they say dear, they won't hurt you. Right?" _

_"As long as you hurry the fuck up." The gun was pressed against her mother's head as she lowered herself on the ground, Mikasa couldn't hold her tears back, she started wailing uncontrollably. "Shut her up!" He clicked the gun, loading it. "I said shut her up!"_

_"Mikasa, please be strong, OK?" The dark-haired girl could only nod feebly. _

_The other two started raiding the rooms._

_"I really think we should leave." The girl spoke. _

_"Shut up, Em." Em shut their mouth, continuing to loot. _

_The doorbell rang, causing the robbers to freeze._

_"Shit. You called the cops, didn't you!?"_

_"No, of course not!" Her mother cried out in desperation. _

_"Stupid bitch." _

_It only took a millisecond, but to Mikasa, it was an eternity. She watched as he pulled the trigger, her own mother's brains splattering around the room and on her dress. Her father let out a horrified scream of desperation, Mikasa was frozen in fear._

_"What the fuck are you doing?" One of his partner's in crime ran in to the room, shocked at the sight. "You just made this a whole lot worse!"_

_"We need to go. Now." Em had become much more strict, more desperate to leave. _

_"Always wanted to do that…" The gunman's whole body was shaking_

_"N, what the fuck is wrong with you, lets go!"_

_"I'm only just getting started." He held the gun against Mikasa's father, jabbing it into his neck. "Humor me little girl." He grinned menacingly. N had tasted blood, and he had liked it too. But Mikasa didn't scream as a bullet traveled through her father's jaw, she could only feel the tears running down her cheeks, her body refusing to move. _

_"Aw, she didn't scream." N pouted._

_"W-What have you done! You just killed two people!" The second man was hyperventilating in panic._

_"Shut up Elle, I just want her to howl." _

_He pressed the handgun in between her eyes._

_"Scream."_

* * *

Mikasa felt hurt. Physically and emotionally. Is that really what he thought of her? If Eren could've just shut up for about three seconds she could've explained… lied.

Maybe she really did deserve this.

Her head sunk in to her knees. Conflicting emotions coursing through her. Aggravated at Eren for being so insensitive, irritated at Levi for being the catalyst, and furious at herself for starting it in the first place.

"Mikasa…"

She ignored his voice. Mikasa wiped her eyes with her scarf. Although there were no tears there, it was just a habit. She stared at the red cloth, remembering her dream from earlier.

If dreams were what the subconscious was thinking, where exactly was that going?

"Please don't cry."

She scoffed.

"As if I'd cry." Her play at the silent game hadn't lasted very long.

"I'm sorry… I was out of line."

She opened the door slowly, peeking through a small crack, facing the green-eyed boy. Apologies were not common coming from him, and if there was one, he usually meant it.

"Are you… OK?"

She wondered if he had only just noticed the injuries.

"I'm fine. I was outnumbered and they weren't your average fighters."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to go to school tomorrow?"

The thought of seeing Annie made Mikasa cringe.

"Yes."

"Are you-"

"I'm fine. I just need to get dinner started."

She passed him, déjà vu of Levi doing the same thing effecting Eren. She was trying to suppress her limp, it was obvious.

He grabbed the girl by her shoulders, scaring her.

"Sit down. You're obviously not well enough to do anything."

"You can't cook." She stated obviously.

"I_ can_."

"Instant Ramen doesn't count."

Eren scoffed, holding his ground. Mikasa was too tired and too hungry to argue, giving up and allowing him to have his way.

"Great!" Eren grinned, causing Mikasa to subdue a smile. That grin was priceless to her.

He was so mood-swingy. One minute he was ranting to the girl and the next he was apologizing. He seriously couldn't make up his mind.

Eren walked over to her after beginning to boil some water in the kettle, scanning Mikasa's body once again.

"Just how good at fighting were they?" His eyes ran all over her arms and legs, settling on her forehead. She was unnerved by his gaze. Eren's hand pushed the bangs from her face, examining her head injury up close. He unwound the bandage, allowing the scabbed wound to breathe.

"Good one." He joked, grinning at her again, staring at her onyx eyes for just a second too long…

_Ding! _The kettle's squealing came to a halt.

"Ramen!" He pushed himself away from her as fast as possible.

_That was quick… _She frowned, way to ruin the mood.

* * *

_He had heard the scream clearly._

_"Eren." Grisha had told him sternly outside the house. The family was clearly wealthy beyond average. "Play nice with the girl." _

_"If I can." He pulled his scarf closer to his neck. _

_"This is why you only have one friend." His father shook his head shamefully. That was when the scream came, high-pitched, a child's. But it was not the kind of laughter-scream that you would expect a child to have. _

_"Stay here." Dr. Yeager turned serious. "I'm going to call the police."_

_Eren disobeyed his father, of course, curiosity besetting him, sneaking to the window. He could see barely through the thin white curtains, mysterious red stains seemed to cover majority of the living room. Seeing a nearby vine to climb, Eren made his way over the side gate, creeping through the back garden to get a better look. He noted two men, and a little girl, all tied up and covered in blood, one of the men holding a gun tight against her face. A nearby back window was open, and Eren slid through it, landing quietly like a cat in the kitchen. He didn't know what he was doing, or why, he only knew that he was doing it, and that it was too late to back out. He snatched one of the nearby knives, gripping it so tight his knuckles whitened. He gently opened the kitchen door, leaving a sliver for him to peer through, assessing the situation._

_"Perfect!" One of the men laughed dementedly, the click of a gun could be heard. "Again!" _

_The little girl whimpered against further pressing of the weapon, her voice refusing to work. "I said again!" His finger flicked the trigger tighter. _

_"No!" Someone jumped the gun holder, a shot could be heard as it hit thin air. The girl stood up quickly, her feet fumbling beneath her as she tried to get away. She rushed toward the kitchen, her only visible exit, stumbling towards his way. Eren took his chance, charging at the gunman _

_"What the-?" But it was too late, the knife continuously slashed at his abdomen._

_"Die! Die!" Eren screamed hysterically until the body hit the floor with a heavy thump. He turned to the girl, cutting the ropes at her hand, her muffled voice shouted with panic at the looming shadow behind him._

_"You idiot! Do you know what you just did?" The second man grabbed the boy by his collar, causing Eren to drop the knife, pulling him upwards, cutting off his air. Eren was deafened and blinded by rage, voice crackily and breathless as he faced the victim._

_"Fight." He mouthed to her as she grabbed the nearby knife. She stabbed sightlessly in to the attackers back. He dropped Eren, gasping in pain, lurching over. Her breaths were shaky as Eren emerged from underneath the man, panting. _

_"Are you OK?" Her eyes bristled with tears, nodding weakly at his question._

_"There were three." She blurted out immediately, causing both children to tense in anticipation. But all there was left was an open window and a curtain dancing in the breeze._

* * *

She sat quietly at the table. Mikasa was not used to having Eren in the kitchen, it was always the other way round since he could barely even cook toast. He set the container in front of her along with some chopsticks.

Mikasa picked up the instruments carefully, feeling a sharp pain in her hand when she tried to use them.

'_Don't over use your hand.'_

So that was what Levi meant.

Who'd have thought that it would mean her hand wouldn't function. Mikasa tested her limits, she could only open the chopsticks a certain amount before it hurt too much.

"You can't use your hand, can you?"

"No." She continued to try to eat properly.

"Don't lie."

What on earth could she be lying about?

Eren moved a few seats across to sit next to the girl.

"Say 'ah'"

"What?"

"You can't eat, so I'll help."

"Wha-?"

He shoved her chopsticks in to her mouth, noodles and all, silencing her protests. She flinched at the boiling water in her mouth, and Eren's unexpected action.

"This is the part where you chew your food." He looked at her lazily, waiting until her tongue finally removed the food off of the sticks. He stuck them back in to the container. "Again, come on." Hesitantly, she opened her mouth. They avoided each other's gaze as the action was repeated continuously, both feeling heat rush to their face.

* * *

_"Fight." He mouthed to Mikasa. She became motionless underneath the boy's intense blue-green gaze. Time froze all around her, she felt her body unlock new limits that she had never felt before._

_At that moment, the universe was in the palm of her hands, and she had all the power in the world. The floorboards creaked beneath her as she charged, felling the man. After a few unsteady breaths, the boy pushed the unresponsive body off of him._

_"Are you OK?" She could do nothing but incline her head slightly at his voice._

_"There were three." Mikasa exclaimed, suddenly remembering, glancing around the room. But it was empty, save for a single open window. _

_"Come on, let's get out of here." _

_"Eren, what the hell just happened?" Dr Yeager appeared, she assumed he was the boy's father, Eren, as she had just learnt. _

_He didn't answer his father, avoiding his gaze, head gesturing to inside the house. The police ran inside along with the man._

_"He's not dead!" Eren's father shouted about the man with a knife in his back. "Medics!"_

_"This one is." A copper yelled, staring suspiciously at the startled kids on the porch. It's not like the man killed himself._

_ It was a long night once they were driven to the police station, a lot of siren's and questions. But Mikasa got through it eventually, holding on to the boy, no, _Eren's_ hand, gripping it tighter each passing minute. He didn't seem to mind at all. _

_"Mikasa, right?" It's not like he needed confirmation, he had heard the girls name plenty enough all through out the day, Mikasa Ackerman this, Mikasa Ackerman that. _

_She nodded with a tremble, as if it was the only thing she could do. Her eyes stung with the arrival of tears, this time, she could not stop them flowing out. _

_"Woah, please don't cry!" He panicked, squeezing her hand tighter, through out the whole ordeal, they hadn't let go of each other. Mikasa calmed down a little, sniffling. "I'm Eren." He grinned, attempting to lighten the mood. She was in awe at how he could be so cheerful after what he had just done, after what _they _had just done. _

_"Eren. A word." His father stuck his head through the door, pulling him away from Mikasa. She shivered at the cold void she felt where his hand had once been. A few words were exchanged between the pair, although she couldn't hear any of them as they were outside. She glanced at the other side of the police station, seeing a girl staring straight at her. She looked her age, but Mikasa ignored her completely. Eren walked back in to the interrogation room, beaming brighter than before. She was still crying, her body shivering, but he wiped the tears away with the edge of his scarf._

_"It's warm, right?" He wrapped the red material around her, it fell gently in to place. "Let's go home, back to _our_ home." The tears stopped suddenly, if this was what she thought it was…_

_"Welcome to the family." Her adoptive father smiled from the doorway._

* * *

Eren lay in bed, the memory of that night reoccurring in his mind for some reason, the fragileness of Mikasa especially. Seeing her today, unable to eat food properly, made him feel protective again. He hadn't seen her helpless like that since that exact night so many years ago.

Part of him believed the whole fight thing, although part of him doubted her too. Mikasa was lying, about something, at least, that much he could tell. He dug his face in to his pillow, it smelt distinctively of someone else.

Levi had to sleep somewhere after all.

* * *

_Eren stood in a strange world. The walls were covered in different pictures and dripping billions of different colours._

_Mikasa was naked before him, except her- or maybe his old- red scarf was there, longer than usual, coiled around his body, pulling him towards her like an octopus' tentacles._

_"Eren." Her voice was so husky, so sensual. _

_Her hair was longer too, curling around him._

_He couldn't control his dream-body as she kissed him._

_Yet sadly, he could not feel the warmth of her lips, as it was only a dream._

_A dream…_

* * *

Eren snapped awake, feeling incredibly flustered. Morning had already began. The dream had sapped away the night, in the way that dreams do.

It took him three cold showers until the feeling dissipated. His body still unraveled about the dream.

* * *

Annie closed her eyes softly on the hospital bed, falling asleep to the monotone sound of the heart rate monitor beside her.

* * *

_The girl and boy were holding hands, but you could see from a glance that they were not related. Her features were much more oriental, his were European in origin no doubt. They were covered in blood, but it was their eyes that truly caught Annie's attention. His were ablaze, pure fighting spirit inside. They looked like Annie's used to, and she wished she could approach the two children, but was forced outside by the policeman. She gave one last desperate glance backwards, sharing eye-contact this time with the girl, in contrast with the boy's, hers were dead and cold, hollow and empty, yet to reclaim their spark. With one last shove, she was out of the building, facing the cruel world that had taken her family from her. _

_It was that same night that she met him. She had been sent to some orphanage to wait while her guardian arrangements were sorted. But the kids there were cruel to her, ignoring her and bullying her, especially for what her father did. _

_He was older than most of the kids at the building, two or three more so than Annie. His face was thin, with long, unkempt hair tied behind his head. His eyes had that spark that Annie had lost, something to look forward to. The blonde had lost hers the moment the police told her what happened. She had nothing to cherish, she had nothing left. _

_"I can help you, if you want." _

_There was no time for introductions. He knew who she was, and knew exactly what she wanted. "Follow me."_

_But Annie was young and naïve as she clambered over the back fence, desperate to leave the horrible orphanage. The boy certainly pulled of dark and mysterious well._

_That was the night when she met Pixis._

_He told her what he could do for her, how she would be able to live on her own, make an income, live her life for herself._

_And she agreed, having no idea what she had gotten herself in to. _

_She fought for him, she did unspeakable acts for him, all for the price of her own freedom. She didn't even want to hear how corrupted the government was, allowing Annie to get off scot free and live on her own, with no legal guardian. _

_It was the night when she signed her soul off to Pixis, when the boy who had taken her to him laughed wildly. She could still clearly picture his insane gaze, his maniacal laugh as he traded her freedom for his own. _

_Levi_

_The name would always be bitter on her tongue, even now. _

* * *

Mikasa reminisced about the day she was adopted in to the Yeager family. Grisha had told her about how he had fought for her against the social workers, Carla had joined in too that night, and they won. She wondered sometimes exactly how legal that had been. If it wasn't for them, she would be an orphan child, growing up with some alien family that never truly loved her. If it wasn't for Eren, she'd be dead.

Her knight in shining armor.

She'd never expected it to be some scrawny nine-year-old kid.

Only the gunman had died that night, the other suffering major injuries, the third getting away. After a long court case, lasting a few years, the kids were let off on the account of self-defense, the mentioning of Eren breaking in to the house was kept quiet. The knife-man had been accused of murder, neither Eren nor Mikasa told otherwise. But neither of them mentioned the third person, the one who got away, after all, she had saved Mikasa's life.

_Red thread of fate._ She raised the scarf above her head. Mikasa remembered Carla telling her about the story, her fingers running through Mikasa's hair, it had been long back then, after all

* * *

"_And the boy realized it was the same girl as back then. That they would always be connected by a thread of fate." _

_Mikasa had fumbled with the scarf, her own red thread of fate. _

_"That was a wonderful story." She glimpsed at Eren. He was never one for his mother's dreary romance stories, always falling asleep. She imagined her own red string, tied around his pinky. _

_"Can it be cut?" She asked. _

_"Traditionally, no."_

_"Traditionally?" She cocked her head. _

_"Times change, as do legends. There is another story, of a girl and her lover." Mikasa gestured for her to continue. "Their families hated each other deeply, so they could never be."_

_"Isn't that just Romeo and Juliet?"_

_"Not quite." Carla chuckled. "The woman saw the man being eaten away by their forbidden love, after all, they could never meet. It killed him, to never see her, to never kiss her." Mikasa squirmed at such an icky topic._

_"So she cut their thread. She couldn't stand to see him hurt by their love."_

_"One can cut their own string, but they must bear the consequences. The other will be free to live as they wish, but the cutter must live with the unreciprocated love."_

_"That story wasn't as nice."_

_"You asked." Carla ruffled the girl's hair, kissing her forehead tenderly. "Sleep, after all, you have your first day of school tomorrow."_

* * *

Mikasa continued staring at her scarf until her arm began to ache, remembering about her injuries she let her arm drop.

Eren grinning, Eren crying, Eren angry.

As his face flashed through her mind, she wondered:

Did her feelings surpass mere 'family'?

Because family could be related by marriage too, right?

She felt herself drifting to sleep, praying for no more strange dreams.

* * *

_Mikasa still stood at the door of the Yeager house, hesitant to enter. Eren admired her tiny form, back then of course, she was just a little girl. Petite, with the sort of features he had never seen before. The dark black hair, sharp, almond-shaped eyes, skin pale like moonlight. The contrast of the blood on her clothes, and the bruises on her skin was too much for the boy. He vouched to himself that he would never let that sight ever reoccur._

* * *

Annie reawakened, the overload of memories disturbing her slumber. The exact same laugh that Levi had given was the one she delivered to Mikasa. She knew how he had felt back then, and could relate.

She could still remember the surprise on her face when she saw him at school, the relief when she realized he couldn't remember her. The shock, when he called her "Leon" thinking he had blown her cover, only to remember that he had simply been shortening her last name.

Annie had laughed at Mikasa, because she was free.

A soul for a soul, that was how it had always worked in Pixis' book.

But Annie did worry a little, Mikasa had many strings of fate tied to her, would Eren and the others be dragged in to it too?

* * *

_"We are all connected by a string of fate, it ties us together." Her father gently brushed the bangs away from Annie's face._

_"Huh?" _

_"Well there are many different types you see, there is the red one, the one you may know."_

_"The kind that ties people that love each other, right?"_

_"More or less," he chuckled. "But there are other colours too."_

_"Really? Like what?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity. _

_"Like black for enemies, yellow for friends, green for family… The list is endless…" He poked her in the belly, causing a laugh to escape the girl's lips. "Everyone forgets about the others because they only think red is important. But each thread is equally as needed as the others." He held his pinky up, right before her large, blue eyes. "Why do you think we make pinky promises?" He asked rhetorically, grabbing her own finger in example, hooking them together. "We're tying the blue thread, the thread of trust." He began the rhythmic shake, chanting: "Pinky promise, if I lie, 1000 needles in to my eye." He winked one eye shut. "And what kind of needles do you think they are? Sewing needles of course."_

_Annie yawned at her father's bedtime story. _

_He kissed the little girl's forehead as he tucked her in to bed._

_"Goodnight, my little lion-heart."_

* * *

**A/N: And the plot does stuff.**

**Sorry I sort of rushed to get this up.**

**Seriously, I can't write fluff at all, if you have some suggestions, I might steal them. (With credit of course.)**

**Thank you: Mega Ayu, TooLazyForALegitUsername, im-micheala, myyriad, Lupinara, Zyzz and Flymo-chan. This website was being weird so I think majority of you guys are guests! Thank you to anyone who faved and/or followed too!**

**Question of the chapter: Favourite titan? (A weird one but I'm running out of questions, send help)**

**Next Chapter: The Red Thread of Fate**


	11. Chapter 11- The Red Thread of Fate

**A/N: My author notes are always so long -_-. Anyway, I'm actually on holidays, and since I have no life, I have had plenty of time to write.**

**Fluffy chapter, sort of. My fluff still needs improvement. Constructive criticism or advice would be great. **

**SnK anime is over and so is my will to live. Although hopefully the fanfiction department will still be going strong.**

**Characters OOC blah blah blah, it's fanfiction. Teenagers should be doing corny, cliche, teenager things, true?**

**Apologies to the ship and its shippers that don't get the spotlight and have to endure this chapter, or just quit. I've said it once and I'll say it again, your time will come. Which ship is it? You'll have to read a whole paragraph to find out.**

**Mikasa's healing abilities are a little superhuman for the sake of plot.**

**Enjoy!**

_I read a lot of fluffy stories for this, I'm trying._

* * *

Chapter 11: The Red Thread of Fate

* * *

_The room was white. Blank. There was not a single speck of colour in sight. Mikasa looked down, her own body consisted of varying shades of grey, she was naked too, save for her scarf, which was saturated in a bright shade of red, the only thing in colour. She glanced behind her left shoulder, she didn't tell her body to do so, but it did on it's own. Eren was there, he too was in black and white, except his eyes were coloured, the green and blue hues standing out. Levi was behind her right shoulder, monotone as well, eyes a deep blue. She spun around to face them, they were naked just like she was, although their lower area was coloured in dark black, her imagination not strong enough to fill in the gaps. Eren lifted his hand, there was a red string tied tightly around his pinky, a single thread, it's shade matching that of her scarf. Eren tugged it, and she felt the cloth around her neck be pulled in response. Mikasa followed the line, seeing that it was emanating from the end of her scarf._

_'The red thread of fate' The voice came from her lips, but it did not belong to her. It was older, more mature, more motherly. It was Carla's from all those years ago._

_As she stared at the thread, she noticed the other end of her scarf had a loose thread too. After following it, she noted that it was wrapped around Levi's pinky. The boys were being pushed away by an unseen force, or perhaps Mikasa was being pulled, both threads were being drawn in the process; causing her scarf to unravel bit by bit._

_And so she stood by her self, her scarf was gone, both boys too, only leaving two pieces of string to be tied around both of her pinkies. Before she could assess the situation, she awakened._

* * *

"Armin, seriously, I'm conflicted."

"It's three in the morning, couldn't you have waited to be conflicted until the sun had at least risen?"

"_Armin." _

Eren could hear the boy yawning on the other end of the phone.

"OK, shoot."

"It's Mikasa."

"What about her?"

"I-" Eren mustered his courage to finish the sentence."-I had a dream about her."

"Was it... _that _kind of dream?"

"Y-Yeah." Eren wasn't really one for sharing his feelings, mainly because he never needed to. He wasn't the type of guy who went around only thinking about girls, sure, he had, but it had never been this specific. Eren had been holding these feelings for a few days. There was only one person he could speak to about it, and he was.

"So you had a fantasy."

"Yes."

"About your own sister."

"Adopted!" He yelled in to the phone, making Armin on the other end hold it away from his ear. "It's not like we've ever seen each other like that." He lowered his voice, careful not to wake the sleeping girl in the adjacent room. "I've only known her for what-" he counted on his fingers "Six, seven years."

"Only six or seven." Armin mumbled.

"I've known you for nearly twice as long! If there is anyone I should consider a sibling, it's you."

"But… I don't live with you. It certainly makes a difference to how close you become." Eren groaned, distraught.

"What do I do?"

Armin had only one approach left. The only way to get through to Eren, was by being overly blunt.

"Go for it."

"Huh-?" Eren nearly rolled off the bed.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say Mikasa felt the same way, but she has shared your thoughts at one point in time."

"What? Mikasa-?"

"Had a crush on you when we were younger, yes." Eren didn't know how to react to this information. It didn't seem like it was a big deal, but it felt like one. "Honestly, just ask her out."

"I've considered that…" He murmured. ",,,But how?"

"How what?"

"How do I tell her that I like her…"

"Eren. You flirt."

"Whazzat?"

"Just google it." Armin sighed, not in the mood for explaining.

"OK, but what if something goes wrong? We will have to live with each other and that awkwardness-."

"Take a risk."

"Really?"

"Life is short and you won't be young forever."

"You sound like some cliché movie."

"_We accept the love we think we deserve." _Armin jeered in a stupid voice.

Both boys snickered on either end of the phone. 3am them would find anything funny.

"Do you really think I should?" Eren turned serious.

"Look, Eren, it's your decision. If you think it's not worth the risk, don't do it"

_Not like that has ever stopped you before _

"… Thanks anyway."

"Always here to help."

Eren hung up slowly, breathing in deep breaths.

"Fuck."

* * *

_They sat at the back of the classroom. Mikasa was less reclusive now, she and Armin were friends too. The story had been complex to explain to the blonde, about how Mikasa had met Eren, but he caught on. Mikasa expected him to jolt at the fact that they had killed someone, but if anything it made Armin more at ease._

_"You two have a bond now." He had stated simply, smiling at the small girl. _

_Armin had always understood Mikasa more than Eren ever had, and saw through her too easily. _

_"You like him, don't you?" He queried, knowing full well how she felt. They both watched the delinquent boy as he was scolded by the teacher yet again._

_"He saved me." She muttered back, refusing to evaluate on his question. Armin could only smirk knowingly._

* * *

Eren felt wide awake after his cold shower, the same dream had reoccurred once again. The one of him and Mikasa... _kissing._

It was a simple kiss, but apparently it was enough to set his body on fire.

"You are not going to school."

"I can't miss another day."

"It was _one _day Mikasa, you should be in hospital for Christ's sake!"

"I'm fine."

"You keep saying that, but yesterday, _I _had to feed _you_."

She dismissed the blush on her face, wincing at the thought.

Although part of her relished the memory.

It was rather strange to see Eren bring up such an embarrassing moment, she would've thought he would be bashful about it, knowing him.

"I'm going to school. Don't try and stop me."

He didn't push the girl further, only sighing while following her on their way.

"Mikasa what happened!?" Armin was breathless as he ran up to the duo.

"She got in to a fight." Eren answered for her, punching the air to demonstrate.

"I see." Armin didn't question further. He knew there was a lie in there somewhere, but if she was lying, it was for good reason, so he didn't push the topic. Mikasa wouldn't get injured easily by a mere fight, there had to be a deeper story behind it.

They continued on their way, with Mikasa still limping.

"Are you sure you're-"

"Yes. Please stop asking."

"Maybe we should find the guys who beat you up, so I can test out my new moves."

"_New _moves?" Mikasa repeated.

Eren gulped.

So they were both lying to each other.

That certainly wasn't healthy.

Armin rubbed his temple at his friends. Early-morning-Armin was a terrible advice giver, and it was safe to say that current-Armin was thoroughly regretting what he had told Eren.

* * *

"Oh my god Mikasa." Sasha's mouth dropped crumbs as her jaw opened at the sight of her friend, running up to her and admiring her injuries.

"_This _is why you weren't at school." Jean gaped.

"Certainly is a good enough reason." Connie whistled in awe. "I don't even want to see the other person."

"Where's Annie today?" Eren asked as if on cue, eager for a new _lesson_. Mikasa stiffened.

"She said she was…" Armin's eyes narrowed in suspicion at Mikasa. "Sick."

"Pipe down." Once again, their usual chatter was disturbed by their teacher, each teen sitting down reluctantly.

"Hang on. Today's the excursion, isn't it?" Eren whispered in to Mikasa's ear, she could feel his hot breath brushing her face. She nodded, remembering. Mikasa had completely forgotten about it, having been a little distracted. Eren was jittery in his seat now, overly-excited. He had forgotten it too, having Mikasa been his main worry.

* * *

"Excursion?" Jean asked when Armin told him where they were going.

"Yeah, we have to go to the beach for science." Something to do with waves, although none of them really cared because, hey, they got to go to the beach.

Shiganshina was landlocked, although not badly. Most people inside the town had never even seen the ocean. Nobody had the time, or the money, to go there. It was a long trip, and the weather was never really good enough. Eren had only been when he was one, him being too young to truly remember anything, so for him, it was like his first time. Mikasa recalled a brief memory of when she was four or five, a sand-fly had bitten her and she had cried. Armin had gone when he was younger, having described the experience to Eren and Mikasa several times. It wasn't really an interesting story at all, but Armin just had this way of making everything fascinating, of making every little detail worth listening for.

"Come on, we're gonna miss the bus!" Eren entwined his fingers in Mikasa's hand, a little more intimate than usual, pulling her away. She didn't even have time to grab Armin as Eren dragged her a long.

"No. Way." Jean marveled, Armin still standing beside him. The blonde shot him a cheeky grin. Both of them turned at the pair that had left, Eren was pinching Mikasa's cheek childishly and laughing, a rare sight indeed.

"Yes way." Armin was still beaming.

"Is Eren trying to flirt?!" It was a strange form, the best Eren could do. Jean imagined that if Eren ever would try to, that's what it would look like it. Armin only kept his mischievous smile, winking at Jean before sprinting up to the others.

"Earth to Jean." Sasha waved her hand in front of his face, but his jaw was still dropped, his eyes searing in pain at what he had just witnessed.

* * *

Eren was still jumping up and down on his seat, anxious to see the ocean.

"Eren. Calm down." Mikasa placed her hand on his thigh, hoping to stop his bouncing.

"I'm calm!" His voice cracked as he practically leapt off the bus seat to avoid her touch, still feeling the shivers running throughout his body.

"The beach isn't even that great." Reiner leaned over from the pair of seats in front of them. "Especially since we're only going in winter."

"When are you supposed to go?"

Reiner gave a look. _Is this kid serious?_

"Summer."

"Well why wouldn't you go in winter?"

"Because it's freezing!"

Eren cocked his head, looking like a confused puppy, a cute one at that. He still didn't seem to get it, he had only heard of the beach from Armin.

"Don't listen to him, Eren. The beach is lovely regardless of what season!" Christa piped from the row beside him.

"You can be excited but…stop…moving!" Mikasa wrestled with him until he ceased, both her hands on his shoulders. Her shield had cracked for a split second, annoyance peeking through. She puffed out air through her nose as Eren wriggled once again to break free of her grip. Mikasa removed her arms, folding them gently in her lap, caressing her injured wrist softly in thought.

* * *

She didn't know why he reacted like that. Whenever he touched her it was fine, but if Mikasa initiated it Eren freaked out.

As they hopped off the bus, the scarfed girl thought she'd try something.

"Eren." He swung his head round to meet her face, very close to his own, their eyes staring at each other's for quite some time. He tried to hold her gaze, but he couldn't, eyes flicking to her lips one too many times.

"Mikasa what the hell was that?" He turned around, hiding his face from hers. "Geez… Weird..." His face felt undeniably hot, and Eren did not want Mikasa seeing it. Eren didn't really blush, his tanned skin was less transparent than her pale, but he didn't want to risk it.

"Are you sick?"

"No." He still refused to meet her eyes.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Let's go." Eren walked off, leaving a worried Mikasa behind. The sound of crashing waves was not too far off, although the thick forest surrounding it blocked the view. The smell of salt hung in the air, and there was no doubt that Eren was impatient to finally reach his destination. She stared at the group walking down the cliff face, following at the far back.

Mikasa was still underestimating her injuries, and inwardly cursed when her ankle rolled on a stone, causing her to slip. She stood up slowly, using a nearby branch for leverage. She tried standing on it, but it hurt too much. The rest of the group had disappeared in to the trees, Mikasa was stranded. She sat back down after calling out a few times, she could barely hear her own voice over the sound of the roaring waves anyway.

"What are you doing?"

"Resting." She replied stubbornly. Mikasa had always had a complex with looking weak.

"I told you not to come to school with those injuries!" Eren shouted, Mikasa flinched at his tone. He leaned down and pulled off her shoe, rolling down her sock. There was a large purplish bruise, something sticking out where it shouldn't be. "You're hopeless." His anger subsided at the defenseless girl, hoisting her arm over his shoulder. She took his offer, albeit reluctantly, limping along side him and pushing her weight on to him.

"I still haven't seen it you know."

"Why not?" Mikasa knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I realized you weren't there."

"You could've seen it and come back for me-"

"No." He shook his head, silencing her. "I want you to be with me. I know you've seen it before… and remember it. But we should see it together."

Mikasa didn't know how to reply, she had to stop for a bit, strange emotions stirring within her.

"We'll never get there at this rate." Eren grinned at her, a joking tone of voice.

"Sorry." Her head retracted in to her scarf as she hobbled along once again.

"Don't apologize-" His voice fell, eyes expanding. "-We're…here."

Mikasa wanted to look at the ocean, she really did, but Eren's reaction was priceless. She watched his eyes soften, widen, his hand gripped her wrist, tugging her after him. He sprinted down the sand dune, Mikasa in tow. She was in a lot of pain, but she refused to let Eren leave her behind.

The sea was toned grey, reflecting the sky. The wind was harsh and icy, the waves crashing against the cliff with immeasurable force, salt spray slowly drenching the students. The teacher walked up to the water, dipping his hand in.

"We won't be able to do much." Mr. Zakarius sighed, wrinkling his nose at the thick stench of sea salt. "Do as much as you can. Be extra careful, the weather is not in our favor."

Each group dispersed quickly. Eren kicked off his shoes, sending them flying up the shore, running in to the water. It was cold enough to freeze his feet off, but he couldn't care less. He laughed as it lapped around his ankles, the sea foam tickling his calves.

"How is it?" Armin shouted, his voice barely audible, rolling his socks and placing his shoes neatly next to Eren's.

"Freezing. Amazing." Eren corrected himself. Armin ran in to the water beside him, teeth chattering. Mikasa gently took off her own shoes, treating her ankle delicately. The pain had numbed down, although the bruise still remained. The bone, or whatever the sticky-outie thing was, must've clicked back in to place miraculously. She waded through the water, splashing her skirt in the process, she shivered next to Eren, even more so when their hands brushed, although that time wasn't from the cold.

"It's so huge." Eren mused, voice full of awe. "There's a whole other world out there. Billions of people living, just like we are."

The three stood side by side, the sea spray drenching them, the cold water chilling them, the wind whipping them.

The movement was small, subtle, but Mikasa was startled by the warmth when Eren's pinky wrapped itself around her own.

"It's beautiful." Armin let out. Something about the storming sea, a rare sight that none of them had seen, made it mysterious in a way nobody could ever begin to explain.

Mikasa smiled in to her scarf, squeezing Eren's pinky back.

_Yeah, me too._

* * *

They stayed like that for a while, just the three of them.

"Do you guys wanna go to the top of the cliff?" Eren broke the silence, wanting to check out the view.

"We should do the work…" Armin contemplated shyly.

"Come on, we can just copy off Reiner or someone later." Armin didn't seem pleased with that answer. "Just bring it with you." Eren compromised, dragging Mikasa by her uninjured wrist once again, pulling her up the dunes, Armin stumbling behind, worksheet in hand.

"That's a long way down." Eren gulped as he viewed off the edge, watching the waves explode in to droplets beneath him.

"Don't fall." Mikasa pulled him back unexpectedly, scaring him. Eren ripped his arm from her grasp.

"I'm not gonna fall."

"Knowing you, you probably would." Armin stated, tone cautious as he looked off the side, jotting something down.

"I think we should come back here in summer." Mikasa remarked suddenly. "All of us." It was rare to hear the girl speak of anything sociable, but Eren found himself nodding in agreement.

"Yeah. Even Jean." The three teens chuckled lightly. They remained there for a bit, Armin leaning against a nearby tree, Eren standing, Mikasa dangling her legs over the edge. It was nice to be together, just the three of them.

"We should head back down, bus leaves soon." Armin folded the sheet, gently tucking it away.

"Race you?"

Mikasa stood up, eyes challenging, her ankle feeling like it had never hurt in the first place.

"You're on."

Armin let out a sigh, tromping after his competitive best friends.

* * *

"Mikasa come here for a second." Eren panted from the water, breaths uneven after sprinting through the sand. He still couldn't beat Mikasa, even if she was handicapped. She approached him slowly, expecting him to be hurt about losing, only to be met with the sharp taste of salt.

Eren had splashed water in to her face, completely out-of-the-blue. Mikasa retaliated childishly, mirroring his actions.

"Ow! What the hell!" He rubbed his eyes sorely as salt entered them.

"Sorry!" She had splashed nearly twice the amount he had, soaking his top layer effectively. He caught her by surprise once again, drenching her himself.

"Gotcha." He grinned, Eren had only bluffed his pain. Mikasa blinked the water out of her eyes, spraying his shirt this time. He fought back, saturating her own shirt. This went on until they were both drenched to the bone. The material of Mikasa's shirt was soaked through, she could feel the water seeping through it on to her skin.

"Maybe that was a bit much." He smiled apologetically. His eyes sweeped her body, down at her top, turning away. "Um… S-Sorry… White is…" He stammered, face growing hot once again. "See-through."

Mikasa glanced down, hugging her arms against her body with it's visible undergarments, covering the now-transparent top. She was blushing, not bothering to suppress it.

She adjusted her scarf, pulling it over her torso and attempting to retain some of her humility.

"Sorry." He gently nudged her towards the shore. "I'll fix it."

But Eren was just as wet as she was, his own shirt fitting against his body, tanned torso clearly visible. Her thoughts only caused her to blush further, her arms squeezing her chest tighter. He ran up to the dunes again, bringing his jacket back. Mikasa sat just on the edge of the water, if the wave was strong enough it would brush the bottom off her feet.

"Here." Eren placed his blazer over her shoulders, she snuggled in to the warmth, it smelt just like him. "Since you didn't bring yours." He shuddered himself, considering he was now in the bare, the wind even further chilling the water on his body.

"R-R-Regret." His teeth clanked against each other.

"Oh my god you guys." Armin approached the duo, slinging his own blazer over Eren. "You're hopeless."

Mikasa and Eren grinned at each other, pushing Armin backwards in to the water. He landed on his backside, soaking his pants.

"Oh my god Armin, your hopeless." Eren teased, smiling devilishly.

"I hate you."

"You let your guard down." Mikasa smirked.

"You should've seen it coming." Eren pointed out.

Armin huffed, dusting the sand off his pants. He kicked water on to both of them, getting their blazers too.

"Should've seen it coming." The blonde shrugged.

"Jokes on you; this is your blazer."

Armin looked defeated. The entire trio burst out laughing until their sides hurt.

"Well I guess you can't copy off my work then." Armin finally said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Yes I can." Eren beamed once again, pulling the sheet out of Armin's blazer's pocket where the blonde had tucked it away.

"Eren!" Armin wrestled with the green-eyed boy, desperately trying to get it back.

"Have to catch me first!" The brunette sprinted off, faster than anything Armin could handle. Regardless, Armin chased him, refusing to let Eren have his way.

Mikasa tucked her head in to her knees, the smile still plastered on her face. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the sea spray, the smell of Eren's jacket, the wind in her hair.

The pain of her injuries had subsided throughout the day, healing at a quickening pace.

She stared at the brace around her wrist. Would she ever tell Eren the truth?

"OK! OK! You can have it back!" Eren yelled, waving the sheet of paper in surrender like a white flag.

Armin's face was smug as he snatched it out of Eren's hand.

"How did he persuade you?" Mikasa approached Eren.

"Doesn't matter!" He stood up abruptly from the sand where he had huddled in defense, silencing her, his face slightly redder than usual. "Cheap shot Armin!" He shouted down the hill to where the blonde was dusting his feet and placing his shoes on.

"Should've seen it coming." Armin mocked once again. Eren huffed in response, doing the same with his shoes, Mikasa joined in too.

* * *

"Come on kids, to the bus." Zakarius rounded up the strays, pushing them up the hill to their transport.

"We should _definitely _come back." Eren noted, staring out the window. The sun was beginning to set, it had taken Mr. Zakarius a long time to find the students, scattered across the beach.

"Yeah." Mikasa yawned. Her body was still going through a healing process, a usual day zapped majority of her energy. Her head kept nodding, drooping over and over, the rhythm of the bus' engine lulling her in to a daze.

"Just sleep already." Eren forced her head to lean on his shoulder. Shocked at first, Mikasa couldn't question his actions as waves of tiredness took over her. She nudged her head right in to the crook of his neck, sighing softly in bliss as she fell asleep.

"Cute." Armin leaned over from behind.

"Shut up." Eren couldn't move, fear of waking the sleeping beauty.

"She needs her prince to kiss her awake now."

"Shut. Up!" Eren snapped back at Reiner, his voice still low. "Also can I have your answers?" Tone changing too quick to register.

"Whatever Eren." Reiner passed him the sheet, watching the green-eyed boy intently as he filled his own out, Mikasa's worksheet too.

Braun shook his head as he sat back in his seat, having never seen Eren be so nice.

* * *

_Bonus Scene_

* * *

"Give it back!" Armin shouted, leaping on top of the boy. Eren stopped too, curling in to a ball of defense.

"Whaddya gonna do about it?" He taunted from his impenetrable shell.

"I'll tell Mikasa everything! I'll tell her about your dream. About everything!"

Eren froze up.

"Y-You're bluffing!"

"I'm sure she'd believe me, since I'm not a liar."

Eren's face twisted in complete horror.

"You wouldn't-"

"We both know I would."

A showdown commenced.

"OK! OK! You can have it back!"

It didn't last too long.

* * *

**A/N: I just love the trio so much uwu **

**I know you're thinking: that was pretty anti-climatic for the beach. If you didn't notice, I was very thoroughly hinting at a return to the beach. **

**Thank you: Flymo-chan, awesome-sadist, ami90, ALW4, hamchan, im-michaela, RavioliTitan, Bodacious Bovine (your advice was very useful, thanks), Alyxielle and all guests! Great thanks to anyone who faved and followed also! I love you guys so much! *hugs***


	12. Chapter 12- Shirts and Skins

**A/N: Long time no see! (In terms of my update pace, anyway.) This chapter has been a bump that I had been unable to overcome, still annoys me even now, talk about booorrriinggg. Not even going to discuss how many times I rewrote this chapter. But I was sick of it lingering in my desktop, best to get it over and done with so I can move on to the good stuff...**

**SnK manga chapter 50…'nuff said.**

**Straight in to it then! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Shirts and Skins

* * *

"Annie's still away, huh?" Christa's eyes were trained on the door, as if Leonhart would waltz in any minute.

"She's still sick or whatever." Ymir reassured the small blonde in that aloof way of hers. Mikasa stared straight ahead at the court.

_Annie deserved it. _She told herself, over and over. But guilt wrenched in her stomach, constantly making her want to throw up. Did Annie really deserve _that? _Perhaps it had been slightly over the top.

Who was she kidding? The only people who deserved that were murderers, thieves and the like. As far as Mikasa knew, Annie was just like her; some broke kid just trying to earn a little cash. Then again, the cash wasn't exactly a _little _amount.

Mikasa ran numbers through her head. She didn't know what to do with such a large amount. Invest it maybe, save it for later. It was a lot of cash, and would be suspicious to hand to a bank. Small deposits maybe…

Her thought process was broken as a ball slid through a hoop with a soft _swish_. Mikasa watched Eren give a short cheer, smiling softly. Eren had seemed kind of out of it lately, too deep in thought- for him, anyway- too _cautious_, like he was constantly treading on thin ice.

All the boys playing had been forced to go shirts and skins, due to lack of sashes- colorful strips that girls had slung over their torsos to discern teams- and Eren had unfortunately got caught on the skins side. Unfortunate for him at least. Mikasa's eyes slid down his torso, something she had been seeing often lately. It just looked so smooth, and even if he was on the scrawny side, so defined.

She felt the freezing glares of Levi, watching her with a bemused glint, from her left. Caught staring, Mikasa switched her focus to lie on something else, the corner of the court looking particularly interesting.

The shortage of sashes ("_Sashes,_ not _Sasha's_" Ymir had to repeat to the food-crazed girl), was due to a mishap between which class booked the gym for use. Long story short, the system had stuffed up, causing the seniors class to get mixed up with Mikasa's. Ultimately, the two teachers had just decided to settle on merging the classes into one, big, basketball game. Mikasa hadn't seen or spoken to Levi much since that time, a part from the few rare instances when she bumped in to him around school. And during such instances, he held a certain air of smugness, if it was possible for such a robotic man to feel such things. It made Mikasa wonder how _that _much cockiness could come from such a small person.

She took a swig from her water bottle instinctively, eyeing the court once again.

"Substitue!" Shadis blew his whistle, signaling for the five to come off, (the two coaches had taken a team each) pointing at people on the bench to head on, Mikasa included, Levi too. She ignored Levi as she stepped on to court, taking her position as far away from him as possible. Smith –the opposing team's coach- had chosen not to sub his players off for whatever reason, leaving Mikasa to verse Eren.

"Mikasa _and _Levi? How is this fair?" Jean whined, sizing up the competition.

"Relax!" Hanji slung her arm over his shoulder in that eccentric way of hers. "Levi won't try."  
"If he didn't want to try than why even get changed in to sports uniform?" Kirchstein shrugged off the arm with a little extra effort than what should've been necessary.

"Hm…" Hanji pursed her lips in deep thought, "good point…"

* * *

Needless to say, Hanji had been correct; Levi was indeed not trying. He stood in the corner of the court, watching the ball rush past with apathetic eyes. No one called him out on it though, the fear of Levi surpassing the need to win.

But that's not to say no one was trying at all.

Eren wiped sweat off of his brow as he faced Mikasa once again. He dribbled the ball in one hand, blocking her off with the other. His large, green eyes searched frantically for an escape route, but either way, Eren knew Mikasa would get him. This pattern had been repeated frequently, either Eren or Mikasa would have the ball, and the other would snatch it back before he/she could reach the hoop. It was like they were the only two players on the court.

Mikasa's injuries disabled her right hand, causing her to constantly use her left, slowing her down. Eren rushed to the right, not even slightly surprised when the ball was transferred in to Mikasa's hands, chasing her back to regain it. Eren was catching up to her, and Mikasa began to panic. He swiped for the ball, making her switch hands. With less concentration needed, Mikasa sprinted ahead, wincing at each dribble as it hurt her injured hand.

Before Eren could even register what had happened, the ball was gone. Mikasa looked behind her, expecting Eren to have taken it, face scrunching in confusion when she realized it was _not_ in his possession.

Her face had a clear '_oh no'_ expression when she slowly turned to face who _did_ have it.

Spinning the orange ball with boredom on the tip of his finger was, of course, Levi. He chucked it backwards, not caring who caught it, finally breaking Eren and Mikasa's endless cycle.

"Is he even allowed to steal off his own team?" Puzzled whispers passed around the hall, questioning Levi's actions. The two coaches only smirked, the plays they had been expecting were finally arriving. Mikasa and Eren shared a bewildered expression, as neither of them had seen him even take the ball in the first place.

"Don't even try." Levi strode past Mikasa, glaring obviously at her poorly bandaged hand (since Mikasa had to redo the dressings herself, and well, she didn't exactly know what she was doing.) Mikasa scowled, refocusing on the game.

* * *

That seemed to be the new sequence. Eren and Mikasa battling it out, Mikasa switching to her right hand, Levi intervening, either team scoring a point. It was dead even, and Mikasa wasn't learning from her mistakes. The ball was in her hands at the moment, Eren applying as much pressure to her as possible. Why hadn't they called subs yet?

Unfortunately, both Eren and Mikasa's weakness was that they weren't exactly team players, preferring to handle things by themselves than with help (and not just in basketball) which truly was a shame. Yet Mikasa found herself urgently looking for a pass, which meant that she was getting desperate. Unbeknownst to Eren, Mikasa could get just as competitive as he could.

It was a moment of weakness, Mikasa would later come to realize, as she tossed the ball, shouting _his _name, the only player on the entire court that wasn't being defended.

"Levi!"

He caught the ball with ease, distracting Eren, allowing Mikasa to evade the boy's guard. She waved her arms in the newfound open space, refusing to call his name again. Catching the ball that he threw towards her, with a clear shot, Mikasa made an effortless goal, just before the coaches yelled "Subs!"

Eren was in jealous awe, Mikasa and Levi worked perfectly together.

Needless to say, victory went to the shirts that day.

* * *

"So, do you like anyone?" The sound was barely audible over the banging of closing locker doors, the girls getting changed back in to school uniform. Mikasa listened to the voices on the other side of the room while she too got dressed. It's not that she wanted to eavesdrop, but she couldn't exactly turn her ears off. If there was anything Mikasa had learnt from years of the changing room, it was that there were only three topics girls ever spoke about, and this was one.

"No. You're so nosey, stop asking me that question." Girl no.2 said. They were voices of senior's that Mikasa didn't recognize.

"Well, who do you find hot? At least tell me that much."

"Fine." The victim of the interrogation sighed, "Petra."

Mikasa wondered why a girl had been mentioned, not that there was anything wrong with that, by default she had assumed they were straight. Why was that?

"Jack."

Boys _and _Girls? Mikasa shrugged it off, nothing wrong with being open-minded.

"And Levi."

But maybe that was just a little _too_ open-minded. Mikasa choked on thin air, blocking out any further discussion emanating from the other side of the lockers.

Levi_? Attractive? _The girl must've been blind, it was the only possible explanation. Thin eyes, pointy nose, the whole 'I-don't-give-a-fuck' attitude, Oh yeah, Levi was _so _hot.

Mikasa smirked, nothing better than a little sarcasm to brighten her day.

"Uwah~" Not watching where she was going, having been preoccupied trying to escape the room, Mikasa bumped in to someone. The someone being too short to have noticed. It caused her bag to drop out of her hands, contents spilling on the floor. (Mikasa really needed to learn to zip it up properly.)

"Sorry Christa, I wasn't paying attention." Mikasa apologized, sending out her hand to help the girl up.

"It's fine. I wasn't paying attention either." The blonde rubbed her head as she took the gesture, pulling herself up. "Here, I'll help." Christa proceeded to collect the scattered possessions alongside Mikasa, placing them neatly one-by-one back to whence they came. "What's this?" She held up a white card, _the _white card. It had come in the mail that morning, a strange occurrence since it always arrived in the afternoon. Not only that, but the date was scheduled much later than usual, most of the previous ones had had the next day's date, this one had next week's.

"It's junk mail. Must've slipped in accidentally." Mikasa ripped it out of Christa's hands urgently.

"You don't… you don't work for Pixis, do you?"

Mikasa froze up like ice.

"Who?"

"Never mind," Close call. Christa shook her head, "I should probably let you get to class now." The blonde gave a melancholy smile, walking past Mikasa in to the bathrooms.

Just how far had Pixis woven his web?

* * *

Eren collapsed in to his seat with a short '_humph_', still feeling down after his defeat in P.E that morning. He just felt so emotionally drained. The young boy who had been eager to join school, graduate at top of the class, and travel the world, felt like a distant memory, a ghost. Now, school had just become a chore.

'_It's your "meriod"' Reiner had stated when Eren had brought it up. 'It's like your male per- you know what? Never mind.' _

Eren often found himself looking to the slightly older boy for advice, but recently, it had been practically useless.

"Annie is still not back…" He thought aloud, staring at the vacant chair in the back of the room, hoping that the blonde would magically appear. Although, Eren didn't miss Mikasa's reaction, her entire body flinching subtly. He shook his suspecting feeling off, returning his focus to the board.

* * *

That lunch was spent in comfortable silence. Eren was usually the talkative one, sparking conversations. But for once, neither of the three said anything, there was simply nothing to say.

Walking to their next class, the silence had not dissipated, slowly turning more and more awkward, ever since Armin had left. (Since he had one of his "special" classes, the kind of class for the exceptionally bright. When Eren had asked Mikasa about it, considering she should've been in the AP class, she eluded the question, muttering something about its materials "costing extra".)

"Eren… Are you feeling OK?" Mikasa broke the silence, the question having been lingering on her tongue all morning.

"I'm fine." Eren replied, clearly lying.

"Hey Mikasa! Sweet ballin' yo." Jean approached the duo- mainly Mikasa- about to embarrass himself once again no doubt. Eren groaned at the boy's appearance, severely not in the mood for his antics.

And everyone knew what happened between them when it was like that.

Most of the time, Eren could tolerate Jean, maybe even enough to call him _friend_. But there were simply parts within Jean that, when unearthed, rubbed the wrong way with Eren.

"Thanks." Mikasa deflected Jean's compliment as usual.

"Yo, listen, so I was like wonderin'-"

"Jean, you're not a rapper from the 80's, stop talking like that."

"What's your problem, Eren? No need to be such a dick." Jean mumbled, dropping his failure at attempting slang.

"Fuck off Jean."

"Fuck you! You started this!" Jean grabbed Eren by the collar, overreacting just a tad. (Looking bad in front of Mikasa was a no-can-do.) Naturally, Eren grabbed Jean's back, pushing him, a little too harshly, into the nearby lockers. The audible _clang_ gaining the attention of nearby students, filing out to see what all the commotion was about.

"Stop." Mikasa's hand lightly touched Eren's, the look in her eyes pure disappointment. Shamefully, Eren let go, deciding to walk away, avoiding Mikasa's gaze, shaking her hand off angrily.

"You fucker!" Jean shoved Eren, this time it was Eren's body that caused the lockers to smash.

"What the fuck was that for!?"

"Who cares! I'm so jealous!"

"Jealous of what!?"

Jean charged, his intent unclear, whether to punch, kick or merely push. But Eren's instincts kicked in, body moving on it's own, performing the move Annie had done to him so many times. It felt good, _really_ good. Eren was a bottle of pressure and his lid had finally been removed, blowing off the compressed steam.

Mikasa seemed appalled, either at _doing_ the action or _how_ he did it, Eren didn't know.

"_Eren."_ Was that all she could say? Eren this, Eren don't do that, it was getting on his nerves. "You've been in trouble enough."

"I don't care, he deserved it!"

Jean rubbed his head sorely on the ground, cursing.

"No one deserved that!" Eren seemed to have stuck a nerve, Mikasa's hands were balled in to fists, as if she would strike at any minute. Eren stepped back in preparation, Mikasa's eyes a deep whirl of emotion. He waited for her to hit him, but instead was met with the view of a broad, muscular back.

"And what are you two doing?"

"Mr. Smith." Mikasa greeted respectfully, fists unclenching immediately.

"My office, both of you."

"Yes sir." Mikasa's shoulders dropped, tail between her legs like a dog as she followed the man. Eren complied, now was not the time to disobey. Jean snickered on the ground, despite the bump that was forming on his head.

"Save it for later, Kirchstein. I'll be visiting you too." Smith scolded without even turning around.

"Yes sir." Jean shut up immediately.

* * *

Annie sat up quietly in her hospital bed, staring out the large window, listening to the beep of the monitor. They just _had _to keep that annoying machine on constantly, didn't they? It somehow reminded her of a nagging Eren, who was always begging for a "lesson". She smirked in to her cup at the memory as she sipped the water that had been laid out for her.

"How are you feeling?" Trust the nurse to be there immediately after she woke up.

"Can I leave yet?"

"I'm afraid not." Not even a split second of hesitation, no checking the records, nothing.

Annie was no fool, Pixis was keeping her here. Pixis was a co-owner of the hospital, often donating generous amounts of money to keep it running. As such, he practically ran the place, just like he did the whole town. Her injuries hadn't actually been that bad, but the 'dogs' Pixis had set on her to "heal" her, had only made majority of her injuries worse, which was no doubt his intent. Now, they just kept pumping her full of sedatives to keep her drowsy and locked up, one last jest towards Annie before she was finally free.

Annie sighed, shifting her gaze to the window once again, at least she had a view. The hospital was the tallest building in the town, nearly ten stories high, and Annie had a penthouse suite. The building overlooked the entire town, so much so that she could even see her school, not too far off in to the distance.

Annie would have never thought she'd feel nostalgia towards _school_, after all, wasn't it just another one of her prisons?

She thought of Eren, and Armin, the closest thing she had to friends. Even Christa, maybe. But Annie could never have friends, because the strings that tied them together would've been pulled along by Pixis' force, something that Annie should tell Mikasa about. There was always Reiner and Bertholdt, she supposed, but that was another story completely. Maybe now, she could finally try and have some…

_Friends…_ Annie thought, closing her eyes, having nothing better to do than sleep.

* * *

"We won't have to take this to the principal. But _both _of you, will be punished." Smith said, resting his chin on the top of his folded hands.

"Understood." Mikasa nodded humbly.

"But Mikasa didn't do anything!" Eren retaliated. Remembering who he was speaking to, he forced himself to calm down. "Why is she being punished?"

"Because I have no doubt that she would have done _something_, if I hadn't arrived in time."

"Sir-!"

"_Mens rea, _Yeager, it means guilty mind. Ackerman had the intent to act violently, and should be taught to think otherwise."

"What the fuck kind of method is that!?"

"_Eren." _Mikasa used _that _tone of voice again, the annoying one, the _motherly _one. True, it was effective at shutting the boy up, but it did nothing to subdue his anger, only heightening it.

"You two can clean up the pool area after school." Smith was unfazed at Eren's outburst, swearing and all, seeming used to such acts.

Mikasa stood up, sensing the dismissal, Eren close behind.

* * *

"How can you be like that?!" Outside the office and Eren was back to his exasperated self. "_Sir! Understood sir!_." He mocked, fake salute and all.

"Eren, he was sparing us. You're lucky he was that nice."

"So nice that we still get punishment! You for no reason whatsoever!"

"It's better than getting expelled. You should be more careful."

Eren smashed his fist in to his locker door, the metal sound ringing throughout the empty hallway. Mikasa was always like this.

"Eren, control your anger."

"I'm fucking angry am I? Yeah, well, you're an idiot!" He stormed away. "I'll see you after German, _Ackerman_." His tone sounded a bit more like Levi than what he was going for.

As Mikasa left in the opposite direction for Japanese, she sighed, Eren wasn't being himself.

But he _hadn't _been himself lately at all. Usually he was his passive-aggressive self, the anger coming out in small bursts. But lately he had been too quiet. For a boy like Eren, this was a bad thing. She noticed every morning that he was having showers, cold ones; since the mirror never fogged up. He was more on edge, reacting to her touch constantly, always staring, always _thinking. _He was being too… how should she put it? _Caring. _He was noticing his surroundings a lot more than usual, he generally asked about others, like where Annie was. Even then, with Jean, he had struck out ten seconds later than what she predicted.

Mikasa shook her head, ignoring the stares of other students as she walked in late, handing the note to her teacher, shaking her doubt off.

* * *

"Yeager!" Smith pulled Eren aside while Mikasa skimmed the net through the water, collecting leaves in the pool. "I had to get someone else to watch you two, I have a meeting, watch Ackerman for me."

Eren's face scrunched. What sort of request was that?"

"Also, I suggest you apologize to her. She looks mad at you."

"Huh?"

"Good luck." Smith gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before Eren could question him further.

* * *

Eren set to work wordlessly, especially since Mikasa seemed hell-bent on ignoring him. If there was anything Mikasa had learnt during her little afternoon with Levi, it was how to make silence strenuous.

And she was doing a very good job.

Eren itched to break in to conversation, but didn't know what to say.

"Mikasa-" She didn't even look his way. "I'm sorry…?" He didn't even sound convincing to himself. Eren sighed, but at least she was listening, evident by the brief pauses in her movement. "I was… out of line… again." This apology felt overused.

"I'm used to it."

"But that's the problem! You shouldn't be used to it because I shouldn't be acting like such a prick in the first place!"

Mikasa exhaled softly.

"It's just who you are."

"I'm not a prick!" Eren felt somewhat insulted by Mikasa's words.

"I didn't mean that." She set the net down. "You're… you. Angry, stubborn…" The list didn't seem to be ending. Most of the qualities she listed off, tended to be bad ones.

"Why are you pointing all my flaws out!?"

"They're not flaws they're-"

"I could point yours out!" He interjected before Mikasa could finish and make him feel worse. "An over-protective, annoying… liar! I know you're hiding things from me!" The words left Eren's mouth before he could process them, his deepest thoughts coming to light.

"I'm not a liar." Despite Eren's outburst, Mikasa was keeping her composure.

"Oh, would you look at that? You're lying!"

Mikasa scowled, Eren mirroring her expression.

"I'm not the only one keeping secrets!" That was it, Mikasa Ackerman, had snapped. "The cold showers every morning. The late night- early morning talks with Armin! You're just acting plain weird and you won't explain why!"

"I-" Eren took a step back, startled by the turn of events. Mikasa's eyes were a black swirl of emotion, too overwhelming. A gust of wind came, leaves swirling around the duo, Mikasa's scarf flying behind her, accentuating the look in her eyes. It was the last push Eren needed, throwing his balance off slightly, enough to send him in to the pool behind him.

"Eren!" Forgetting everything, without second thought, Mikasa dove in, swimming straight towards the sinking boy.

* * *

The shock had been enough to hinder him, his body refusing to swim, his mind too confused to work out which way was _up._

_Maybe I should just let myself drown. _Eren thought, regretting the decisions he had just made, his body growing numb against the freezing water. He felt a wave of tiredness take over him, subconscious submitting to the push and pull of the water. Eren watched the all too familiar dream emerge behind closed eyelids, the same one that had been haunting him for quite a while now.

But this time, Mikasa was clothed, her hair considerably shorter, scarf too, and the usual white background was aquamarine.

_My favourite part_…

Eren wasn't quite sure why he did what he did next. Perhaps part of him still thought it was the dream, or maybe he just wanted the excuse.

His mind couldn't differentiate between what was dream or reality, which bit was the white of her shirt, or the white of her skin.

Either way, he gripped the nearest pale bit, pulling himself towards Mikasa.

And kissed her.

* * *

Mikasa emerged from the water with Eren by her side. Bright red and breathless from either the kiss or lack of oxygen, she couldn't tell.

Eren mumbled something, half to himself, half-apologetically, worming out of her grasp and swimming towards the ledge. Mikasa kept her head submerged in the water to hide the blush.

"Come on." Eren leant over the edge, shoving his hand out, doing a top job of avoiding Mikasa's eyes. She took it reluctantly, the contact sending shivers down her spine.

"Sorry, I suppose that was your first." Eren muttered, still needing confirmation of what exactly was going on between Mikasa and Levi.

"Y-Yeah…" Mikasa also evaded his eyes, always enticing her to look at them with their beautiful colours. Her mind was still jumbled in to a hundred pieces. She figured that _that _was why Eren had been acting strange. No thanks to the chlorinated water, it hadn't been the most romantic kiss she dreamed of. She hadn't _tasted_ him, felt Eren's warmth, since their was only cold and wet surrounding her.

But it was perfect, in every conceivable way.

* * *

"I think Irvin meant make _up_, not make _out_." The appearance of Levi had both teens quaking, causing an odd satisfaction for the senior. He had taken Irvin's place with supervising the teens, having watched the entire scene fold out before him. Levi rolled his eyes, couldn't the horny brats just keep it in their pants? He sat himself down on the chaise, bathing in their pure embarrassment. Whenever Irvin had a job he didn't want to do, he would push it on to Levi, always making him end up as the baby sitter.

The two of them kissing was disgusting. Even now, blushing like middle-schoolers, Levi felt his stomach grow queasy.

God, where was the nearest trash can?

"You know, the pool has a long way to go."

Both of them obeyed him out of fear. Levi relished in the power, leaning back and relaxing as the two fiddled with cleaning the leaves out.

"Ackerman." He beckoned for the girl to come over, leaving Eren to work by himself. Eren realized that this was what Smith meant by 'watch Ackerman', having seen her clear hatred towards the senior earlier. Unlike Eren, Mikasa held less fear towards Levi, making it clear that she was begrudgingly following his request.

Levi grabbed her wrist, running his own hand over the top of hers. She was stunned by the action, hairs standing on end at the surprising warmth of his touch.

"What are you-" Her question was cut off as she hissed, Levi pressing his fingers in to her injured hand.

"No thanks to your fantastic treatment it's gotten worse." He dropped it, Mikasa cradling her hand defensively. "Get your new boyfriend to kiss it better for you." He suppressed a smirk of satisfaction as her face scrunched a little, redness coming back.

Mikasa could never imagine a jerk like Levi being a doctor, imagining his snide remarks.

_'Well your son is dead, but he was a brat anyway.'_

"Get out of my sight, both of you."

Levi was not a romanticist, quite the opposite really. Smitten teens like these two, were making him sick. The duo hurried away at the dismissal, Mikasa shooting daggers as she left.

Levi closed his eyes, sighing through his nose. Mikasa was being as careless as always. He felt strangely fatherly, not towards Mikasa, she could rot in hell, but her injuries. Almost as if they were separate entities entirely. There was just something satisfying about watching something broken be fixed by his own hands.

Once again, Levi was left to clean up somebody else's mess.

* * *

Eren and Mikasa were still dripping wet, the whole walk home, having not bothered to towel off. Not a single word had been said between them.

Eren cleared his throat as they stood in the living room, thinking he should say something, but not knowing what.

"So…"

Where did they go from here? Did Mikasa feel the same way? Would it work out? Should they pursue a relationship?

"Now wha-?"

Eren cut himself off at Mikasa's expression, her eyes closed deep in thought. Her face was a clear sign of inner turmoil, having never seen her look so confused.

She turned towards her room's door, eyes downcast, still avoiding his gaze.

"I don't know." She muttered, "I need to… think."

Eren sighed, half in disappointment, half in embarrassment. His body felt hot and bothered, and at the same time he wanted to curl up in to a ball and disappear. Even now, all he seemed to be doing was hurting her, causing Mikasa more and more trouble.

Eren was beginning to feel like a burden.

"Fuck… What have I done?" He slipped in to his room, discarding wet clothes, not even bothering with food or shower. It could wait, everything could wait.

Because Eren had just made a huge mistake.

* * *

**A/N: When lacking inspiration: rip off canon. Back at school! Exam period :(. So, if you catch me updating soonish, yell at me for not studying (Which I assume will happen because, hey, studying=yucky). I was actually going to post this chapter 2 weeks ago but decided against it because I hated it. And I still do.**

**Last chapter had great feedback! Thanks to: Reyu6, lhaine07, Alyxielle, Shiina Yuki, Lupinara, Soccerisawesome19, ALW4, Alexnoel1422427, RavioliTitan, jojobear321, karlahigurashi, Flymo-chan, SeraphineHeartfilia, awesome-sadist, in the gay lane, lil'chrome-chan and all guests for reviewing! Thanks to everyone who faved and followed and anyone who even made it past chapter 1!**

**Sorry to all the RivaMika shippers but it's coming.**

**Question of the chapter: You guys got any cool headcannons? Anything really, I just love reading them. uwu**

**Bonus: This chapter was special homage towards two popular sports anime, any guesses? **

**Did Eren make a mistake? Will there ever be RivaMika? Find out on the next Chapter! (Which doesn't have a name yet!)**


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